Northamptonshire fire union rally urges 'fiasco' commissioner to go

A protest is expected to take place urging a fire commissioner to resign over his "fiasco" interim appointment of a friend who quit after 10 days.

Nicci Marzec led Northamptonshire fire service before resigning. She stood down on 17 July amid concerns about her friendship with Stephen Mold.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) protest is calling for Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) Mr Mold to "resign or be held to the highest account".

The PFCC has declined to comment.

The union said it had written to fire minister Chris Philp calling for a response to the "chaotic and embarrassing" events.

Its protest is set to be held during Thursday's meeting of the police, fire and crime scrutiny panel.

Agenda documents show the panel will hold a confirmation hearing on the appointment of the latest chief fire officer, Simon Tuhill who is currently acting in the fire chief role vacated by Ms Marzec.

Mr Tuhill's position is expected to be confirmed by the scrutiny panel. It is not known if the committee will ask to discuss Mr Mold's handling of the appointments.

Speaking ahead of the FBU's rally, Adam Taylor, said: "Stephen Mold must not be allowed to continue dragging out his disgraced tenure.

"The events of the past weeks have made it crystal clear - his position is untenable. Firefighters from across the region are outraged by this embarrassing fiasco.

"We call on the councillors sitting on this scrutiny panel to do the right thing and ensure that Stephen Mold is held to the highest account in a public, open meeting."

The FBU had previously questioned Ms Marzec's appointment by citing the fact she had no fire fighting operational experience.

Ms Marzec, who was appointed following the sudden resignation of the county's former chief fire officer, Mark Jones, has made no public comment since leaving.

She has also left all her roles at the Police, Fire and Crime Commission (PFCC) office.

She was working as Mr Mold's director of early intervention and head of paid service before she was appointed to lead the fire service.

After Ms Marzec resigned, Mr Mold said their "friendship" had "become the story" and told the BBC he acted too quickly and "was not clear enough about" the reasons for her appointment.

He has said he will not quit as commissioner despite calls from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to resign.

A Home Office spokesperson confirmed that in areas which have publicly elected PFCC's, it was the commissioner's responsibility to appoint the chief fire officer.

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