North Wales firefighters threaten strikes amid revamp plans

Firefighters in north Wales have threatened to go on strike over plans to overhaul the fire service.

More than 100 demonstrators protested against the plans in Wrexham on Saturday.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the revamp would lead to a worse service in towns and cities.

North Wales Fire Service said it would meet union leaders to discuss their concerns and alternative proposals.

In recent years, the service has struggled with on-call staffing in rural areas, where firefighters often work other jobs.

It wants to put full-time firefighters on duty during the day in Corwen, Dolgellau and Porthmadog - but managers say this means they will have to save money elsewhere.

It is asking for the views of people in north Wales, by giving three options in a consultation which ends on 30 September.

One option is that night shifts could be removed at Rhyl and Deeside stations, leaving only on-call staff to respond to 999 calls.

Another option includes removing one of three fire engines based in Wrexham and cutting the number of firefighters.

A third involves a combination of the first two, as well as closing Abersoch, Beaumaris, Cerrigydrudion, Conwy and Llanberis fire stations. This would result in the loss of 36 full-time firefighters and 38 on-call firefighters.

An online petition against the changes has more than 1,800 signatures.

North Wales FBU chairman, Stuart Stanley, said: "While there's a new improvement in rural fire cover we view it as, overall, a degradation of cover in our main towns and city.

"There's a strong feeling we won't accept these cuts and we won't accept potentially 22 to 74 jobs being cut."

The FBU's Cerith Griffiths said: "As things stand we are looking at the possible closure of five fire stations which means we will be losing firefighters from those communities."

He believed this could lead to lead to the scourge of wildfires worsening.

"It's something we can't standby and watch," he added.

North Wales Fire Authority, which sets the service's budget, said more than 1,200 people had responded to the consultation on the matter.

Chairman Dylan Rees said previously: "When it comes to closing five stations, the public have spoken out very strongly that they are totally against that, and we need to listen to those views."

He added: "What we're seeing so far is that option one is the preferred option from the public - but I need to stress that we're not committed to adopting any one of those three options."

North Wales Fire Service said it would meet with union leaders to discuss their concerns and any alternative proposals.