Farmers call for rural fire stations to be spared

National Farmers Union (NFU) members are calling for rural fire stations to be spared from being axed ahead of the close of a public consultation.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) is proposing to shut a number of stations including Ramsbury, Bradford-on-Avon, Wilton and Mere to save money.

Wiltshire dairy farmer and NFU chair Peter Shallcross said wildfires on Salisbury Plain have caused "huge amounts of damage over the years" and having a local service was "invaluable".

The public consultation on the proposed closures ends on Friday, with a final decision expected on 30 June.

DWFRS has said the latest financial settlement from the government is not enough for the service to keep running as it currently is.

To balance the budget, the service said it needs to find "in-year savings totalling £1.2m".

In a bid to save money, the service is proposing to close four on-call fire stations in Wiltshire, as well as Cranborne, Hamworthy, Maiden Newton and Charmouth in Dorset.

But the NFU has said the stations are critical for agricultural emergencies like wildfires, road collisions and livestock rescues.

Shallcross said ever-increasing extreme weather - including hotter, drier summers - means the risk of wildfires has increased dramatically.

"I had a wildfire some time ago," he said.

"I was moving my pigs on to a new stubble field and a fire swept through and killed some [50 piglets and sows] in their huts. It was just completely out of control."

He said if it "wasn't for the quick action" of the local fire service "it would have been a lot worse".

"We've got fire extinguishers in our combine, we've got water bowsers waiting in the field but there's always a chance a spark will trigger off a fire, and you just can't react quickly enough to put it out straight away," he said.

"The Fire and Rescue Services Association suggest that the closure of Ramsbury station will increase response times to 20 minutes.

"In my case that would be disastrous."

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