FIREFIGHTERS from Bolton, Wigan and Leigh are to leaflet more than 10,000 homes in Horwich and Blackrod this weekend in a bid to get public support for their campaign for more staff at the Horwich station.

With support from the Fire Brigades Union, staff from Horwich are trying to persuade fire chiefs to provide more cover for the growing area.

Currently Horwich is staffed by full-time firefighters only during office hours. Out of office hours, they are on call and retained firefighters, many of whom work full-time in other jobs, are also on call in the evening and at weekends.

The station has seven full-timers and 10 part-time.

But staff argue that there should be at least 22 part-time firefighters for the system to work correctly.

And they are campaigning for seven more full-time staff so that one appliance would be available permanently and a second could be crewed by reserves if needed.

The firefighters have already got the support of Horwich councillors Bob and Barbara Ronson, and are hopeful that when they meet the Bolton West MP Ruth Kelly next month, she will support them.

Paul Hansbury, B division chairman for the Fire Brigades Union, based at Horwich, said: "We are fighting for a full-time fire station for Horwich.

"The station has been understaffed for a number of years and this compromises the safety of people in Horwich as well as the health and safety of firefighters who are under increasing pressure due to the staff shortages."

Horwich Fire Station was first established by the former Horwich Loco Works. It was manned by volunteers from British Rail. When the Loco works closed the tradition was maintained by staff from British Aerospace, and this continued more recently with retained firefighters.

Mr Hansbury added: "There is a real problem in recruiting part-time staff, because although they are part-time they are expected in some cases to put in 120 hours a week for very little reward. That is asking too much of people already in full-time work."

He said that for the past five years Horwich station had been receiving 1,000 fire calls a year. He said fire chiefs had told staff that the station could not be operated round the clock until it reached 1,500 calls a year.

"But there are plenty of full-time stations receiving less calls that that. The system being used in Horwich is designed for rural areas."

He added: "There are 30,000 people living in the area, all paying a precept to the tune of half a million pounds. That's more than enough to pay for a full-time service."

Cllr Bob Ronson, who will be helping the firefighters deliver their campaign leaflet this weekend, said: "The station has had to rely heavily on volunteer firefighters, and they have done a brilliant job. But Horwich needs a dedicated, 24 hour service."

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