MORE than a thousand people have signed a petition against proposals to close fire stations in Wallasey and Liverpool city centre at night.

The plans will see these fire stations shut down for twelve hours each night.

During those times, residents would have to rely on fire engines from other areas being available.

The petition says: "The removal of night-time fire cover at Wallasey and City Centre fire stations will inevitably lead to increased attendance times, more preventable injuries and more preventable deaths.

"Following on from the tragic events of Grenfell Tower it is the firm belief of the Fire Brigades Union that cuts to our Fire and Rescue Services have gone too far, and not only must they cease, they must be reversed.

"Proposals to downgrade night time fire cover not only risk the lives of members of the public but those of the firefighters who serve them."

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service say recent Government cuts have left them no choice but to allocate 'diminishing resources' in the most effective way to best serve the public.

Their spokesman said: “Our Integrated Risk Management Plan for 2017-2020, which was approved after extensive public consultation in 2016, contained the proposal to change the crewing systems at Aintree, Crosby, Eccleston, Kensington, Liverpool City and Wallasey Fire Stations to whole time crewing between 8.30am – 8.30pm, with retained crewing overnight on a 30-minute recall to maximise the resilience of the service.

"The changes to crewing at Liverpool City and Wallasey, along with those implemented previously, are a direct response to the cuts that have affected the service particularly and the wider public sector more broadly.

"The Authority and the chief fire officer have stated on numerous occasions that they are against these cuts and the adverse effect it is having on its ability to serve the public – unfortunately the Authority are legally required to provide a balanced budget and the chief fire officer is therefore forced to make recommendations that he would prefer not to make."

Plans to close these stations overnight are due to take effect effect in the third quarter of this year.

An immediate response to overnight incidents in Wallasey will be made from Birkenhead and Upton (Saughall Massie) Community Fire Stations, while incidents in the city centre will be immediately responded to from Kikdale and Toxteth Community Fire Stations.

To sign the petition visit https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-downgrading-of-night-time-fire-cover-at-wallasey-and-city-centre-fire-stations