FIREFIGHTERS and councillors from Horwich joined forces at the weekend to launch the campaign for Horwich fire station to be upgraded to a full-time service.

Councillors Bob and Barbara Ronson came out to support the firefighters in their calls for management to sit round the negotiating table to discuss the staffing problems that firefighters say have dogged the station for a number of years.

More than 11,000 leaflets were delivered to homes in Horwich and Blackrod over the weekend by volunteer firefighters from Bolton, Wigan, Atherton, Hindley and Leigh.

The leaflets call on the public to write to local councillors, MP Ruth Kelly, Bolton fire authority councillors, county fire officer George Almond, and fire authority chairman, Fred Walker to express their concerns and ask the fire authority to provide Horwich and Blackrod with the same level of cover as the other areas surrounding Bolton. And 400 firefighters from Bolton and Wigan have written to the same people in support of the staff at Horwich.

Paul Hansbury, B Division chairman for the Fire Brigades Union, based at Horwich, said: "The firefighters from surrounding areas have written letters pointing out that because of the staffing problems in Horwich, engines from their stations have had to come to Horwich to provide cover, leaving their stations short."

Mr Hansbury said that a public meeting, to which all interested parties will be invited to speak, is being organised.

He stressed that this campaign is not connected with the wider dispute in Greater Manchester Fire Brigade about national and local conditions of work.

For further information on the campaign in Horwich visit the website on www.no9994horwich.freeserve.co.uk

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