Fire station cuts 'could threaten terror response'

The closure of eight fire stations across Wiltshire and Dorset could affect the local response to terrorist incidents, a councillor has claimed.

At a full meeting of Wiltshire Council, Pauline Church urged the authority to oppose plans to close the stations, which include Bradford-on-Avon, Mere, Ramsbury, and Wilton.

She referred to the Novichok attack in Salisbury in 2018 when her neighbour, an on-call firefighter, responded to the incident.

Chief Fire Officer Andy Cole said consultation responses to the proposed fire station closures would be "considered carefully" ahead of the Fire Authority decision-making meeting on 30 June.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Church told the meeting the station closures would be a "direct cut to our emergency safety net".

"The fire service is specifically mandated to respond to structural fires, road traffic collisions, and other emergencies," she said.

"In our case, this was Novichok, a nerve agent attack on Salisbury.

"It was alarming to see my next-door neighbour – an on-call firefighter – in a hazmat suit at the centre of an international terrorist incident.

"The world since then has not become a safer place."

Church proposed a motion demanding that council leader Ian Thorn write to DWFRS and Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson to outline Wiltshire Council's opposition to the plans.

The motion was supported by 87 councillors, with three abstaining.

DWFRS previously said the loss of the stations could be covered by full-time crews.

And it said the latest financial settlement from the government was not enough for it to keep running as normal.

The government has promised the service a 4% funding increase this year.

The final decision on the closures rests not with the fire service but with Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

The authority is made up of 18 councillors from Wiltshire Council, Swindon Borough Council, Dorset Council, and Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council.

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