A North-East chief last night warned that firefighters could be among 180 jobs likely to be axed as a result of public spending cuts.

Cleveland Fire Brigade expects to have an £8.8m shortfall in its budget over the next four years and believes the safety of communities and staff may be put at risk by budget cuts.

The warning came as Business and Enterprise North- East, which provides advice and support to new and expanding businesses, announced it is to start consultation on the loss of 135 jobs over the next six months.

Economist John Philpott, chief economic advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said public sector job losses due to Wednesday’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) could be as high as 750,000.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the cuts would hit the poorest hardest – and families with children would be the biggest losers.

Three of the region’s fire services told The Northern Echo yesterday the impact of the CSR was not yet clear, but Ian Hayton, chief fire officer for Cleveland Fire Brigade, said: “The allocation of the Central Fire Grant has a direct impact on us, and although we are unlikely to find out how this will affect us until December, we expect to receive a reduction in grant of 25 per cent.

“As Cleveland Fire Authority is heavily dependent on this grant to fund its budget, this reduction along with other budgetary pressures in effect means we estimate we will have a shortfall of approximately £8.8m over the next four years, equating to the loss of about 180 jobs from across the brigade.

“The majority of our staff are front line, and if the details of the CSR reveal cuts that are too deep then there may be risks to the safety of our communities and staff in the future.

“We operate in a high-risk environment with large industrial and chemical complexes, dense populations and high levels of deprivation, anti-social behaviour and arson.”

He added: “We will focus on continuing to provide these services in the future, although the manner in which we deliver them may have to be modified.”

County Durham and Darlington, Tyne and Wear and North Yorkshire fire brigades are yet to reveal the impact of the funding cuts, but all three brigades are refusing to rule out reductions to services and jobs over the next four years.

Chief Officer Iain Bathgate, of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Our ongoing efficiency programme will undoubtedly see us reduce our costs further in the years ahead, but I must state that I am concerned that a 25 per cent reduction in our grant over the next four years will, at some point, have a detrimental impact on our ability to maintain our first-class service.”

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We are now preparing plans based upon a fall in the total budget and will make every effort to ensure that frontline services are not affected. This involves looking at expenditure on buildings, equipment and central services.”

Tony Curry, Durham secretary for the Fire Brigades Union, said firefighters had not been told what the future holds.

“The Government won’t release exactly how it is going to affect the force until December.

We have been left in limbo. All services will be the same until then, but we know they are looking at ways to save money,” he said.

“It will affect us, nothing is safe, including our jobs. There will be cuts.”

Chancellor George Osborne spent yesterday defending £81bn of cuts, insisting the spending review had involved “hard choices” but that they were fair.

Mr Philpott said the prediction of 490,000 public sector job losses by Mr Osborne understated the full impact of public sector downsizing.

He said: “Moreover, the spending review does not acknowledge the likelihood that very large percentage cuts in the cost of administration across Whitehall, local authorities and even ostensibly ring-fenced areas of spending such as the NHS, will have a disproportionately negative impact on some of the most labour-intensive parts of the public sector.”