A PUBLIC meeting will be held tonight to discuss the proposed closure of Wirral fire stations.

The meeting, to be held in the St Mary's Centre on Saughall Massie Road, is the first such meeting held as part of a 12-week consultation to discuss Merseyside fire service plans to merge two Wirral fire stations.

The consultation - which began on March 2 and runs until May 18 - will consider the closure of West Kirby and Upton fire stations and the building of a new station at Saughall Massie Road to cover both station areas, or the outright closure of West Kirby station and relocating crews to Upton.

Chief Fire Officer Dan Stephens said: "We have to make structural changes to emergency response cover across Merseyside in order to deliver the savings required following grant cuts.

"I am of the professional view that a merger in West Wirral would deliver a less impactive operational outcome than the outright closure of West Kirby or any other option open to the Fire and Rescue Authority.

"I encourage people to take part in our consultation, attend the public meetings, read the information about the proposals on our Service website and fill in our questionnaire. We want to hear your views."

The fire service had held a 12-week consultation on proposals to close West Kirby and Upton stations and build a new station in Greasby but the site was withdrawn after objections because it was on greenbelt land.

The outcomes of the consultation will be reported back to the Authority for a definitive decision in June.

The first consultation took place from October until January. 

The meeting starts at 6.30pm at the St Mary's Centre, 127 Saughall Massie Road, CH49 4LA.

The other public meetings being held as part of this consultation will be held on the following dates:

• Tuesday, April 28, at Holy Cross Church community rooms, by Holy Cross Church, Woodchurch, CH49 7LS, starting at 6.30pm.

• Tuesday, May 5, at Hoylake Community Centre, The Parade, Hoyle Road, Hoylake, CH47 3AG, starting at 6.30pm.

For more information, visit merseyfire.gov.uk