UNION officials were in the North-East today (Friday, September 12) to warn the public about the effect of fire service cuts.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) took its Ring of Fire national tour to Sunderland city centre to promote its recent report Sounding the Alarm: The Future of Our Fire and Rescue Service.
It found that since 2010 the service nationally has suffered budget cuts of 20 per cent and lost 5,000 frontline firefighter posts and 30 fire stations have been closed.
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “Firefighters want to warn the general public about the threat to the UK fire and rescue service from Government cut-backs.
“Firefighters want to continue doing a great job but their profession is being undermined by deep cuts to the service.”
The Ring of Fire tour will be at the King Edward Memorial Clock on Redcar High Street tomorrow (Saturday, September 13) at noon.
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