CAMPAIGNERS fighting 'life-threatening' cuts to the fire service in Inverclyde are calling on councillors to unanimously take a stand against the contentious proposals today.

A motion is set to go before a meeting of the full council urging all elected members to throw their full support behind the Fire Brigades Union's opposition to the 'dangerous' cost savings. 

Former chair of the Local Police and Fire Scrutiny Panel, Councillor Tommy McVey, is championing the move for his colleagues to declare their position in a vote.

Councillor McVey told the Telegraph: "This motion is about keeping the residents of Inverclyde and its firefighters safe. It is also about protecting firefighters' jobs.

"I really hope that we can come together as a council and send a message to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Scottish Government that we will not accept an increased risk to life for the residents of Inverclyde, which is what will happen if these cuts go ahead."

We told in July how Greenock Fire Station is set to lose at least ten firefighters under plans to introduce a new crewing model and wider plans to reduce the number of high-reach vehicles.

The proposed cuts sparked widespread cross-party opposition with a number demonstrations taking place in Inverclyde.

Councillor Colin Jackson, who has also been at the forefront of opposition to the cuts, said: "This has been a deliberate act of aggression against our communities and the firefighters who put their lives at risk keeping our communities safe.

"With further cuts planned, this motion gives every councillor the chance to say enough is enough, that the full weight of our support is behind the FBU, to call out the Scottish Government for what has been a political decision that is putting lives at risk."

Former fire chief Richie Duncan, of Gourock, has strongly echoed the danger to life warnings that have been made regarding the cuts programme.

Mr Duncan said: "As a retired senior SFRS Officer, with 30 years experience, I know how important it is for the funding from the Scottish Government to be set at the correct level to ensure the required standards of operational response to incidents by the SFRS are maintained.

"The current cuts being made by the Scottish Government, are placing both the public and firefighters at serious risk of harm and must be challenged at every political level."

The council motion proposed by Councillor McVey and backed by Councillor Francesca Brennan stated that it 'supports the Fire Brigades Union’s position that the proposed cuts to fire and rescue service provision, at Greenock Community Fire Station, will result in increased response times and an increased risk to life'.

The motion continues: "This council calls on the Scottish Government to reverse the proposed £36m cuts to the SFRS budget in order that resources can be maintained at Greenock Community Fire Station, i.e. two whole time fire and rescue appliances, including provision for high reach capabilities – either separately or combined, and one on-call appliance."

FBU West Area Region chairman and local firefighter Colin Edgely said: “With thousands of signatures from residents of Inverclyde in support of our campaign against the cuts, the FBU and its members would expect the council that represents Inverclyde's residents reflects their constituents' views, backs the motion, and officially declares their opposition to these dangerous cuts."

SFRS area commander for Inverclyde, David McCarrey said: "The people of Inverclyde can rest assured that the safety of our firefighters and communities is and always will be our number one priority.

"As a national service, we have been abundantly clear that we need to modernise our service while taking cognisance of immediate financial challenges. 

"With this in mind, we recently published a full and transparent breakdown of all of our operational changes, including a comprehensive rationale for how each decision has been reached.

"We continuously review our resources to ensure we can effectively deliver our frontline emergency service and our Operations Control staff will always work to mobilise the closest and most appropriate fire appliance.

"As always, we will continue to attend every emergency and maintain fire cover within communities here in Inverclyde and indeed across Scotland."