TRIBUTE has been paid to the retained firemen who provide the backup at the Horwich station, by their full-time counterparts.

And they are quick to stress that although union chiefs are pushing for the station to be upgraded, it is no reflection on the "excellent service" given by the retained staff.

As revealed in the BEN, the call to upgrade the part-time station comes due to a massive increase in the number of calls its overstretched crews are having to deal with.

Call outs have more than doubled during the past 15 years, but staffing levels have not increased. In fact, they are failing to reach the required level.

There should be 22 retained firefighters and seven full-time ones, instead there are only 12 retained staff.

Local Fire Brigade Union spokesman, Paul Hansbury, said: "Because of serious manning level shortages at Horwich Fire Station both part-time and full-time staff are under severe pressure.

Difficult

"The part-time staff provide an excellent service to the people of Horwich under extremely difficult circumstances, with commitments to both the fire service and their main employers.

"It is now up to Brigade management to sort out staffing levels so the station can provide the best service possible."

He said that the weekend in which the Horwich station was left with no team on call at its base for 18 hours, arose due to the illness of only one or two of the retained staff.

He said: "Because of the low staffing levels, it was a problem waiting to happen."

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