COUNCILLORS have renewed their concerns over changes to the fire service.

Norton Town Council was told that Malton and Norton had been left without cover for a day while the full-time crew from Malton station was involved in animal rescue training.

Cover was also not available by the retained crew, leaving Pickering and Sherburn, which are retained stations, to also cover Malton and Norton.

Councillor Sharon Cawte said: “Surely someone has made a big mistake on the rotas by arranging training when no cover was available. I know from experience how quickly a fire can take hold and if there had been no cover when my kitchen caught fire, it could have very quickly swept both ways to my neighbours.”

Norton Town Council has previously written to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (NYFRS) expressing concern at the proposed reduction in services at Malton fire station, which includes the introduction of a tactical response vehicle (TRV) to replace a fire engine, later this year.

Councillor Di Keal said: “None of us want to see this happen and I would suggest that we write again and also approach North Yorkshire County Council’s fire committee. This is something that will put lives at risk and we need to act now as a town council.”

Councillor David-Lloyd Williams said the town had seen the devastating consequences of a fatal fire.

“Too many frontline staff have been lost already,” he said. “The changes to a TVR have been opposed locally and the fire brigade just cannot cope with any further cuts.

“We should write a very strongly worded letter to the fire authority and also to the leader of the county council expressing our concerns.”

A spokesman for NYFR said the service had ensured that staff at Pickering and Sherburn were available to respond to incidents while the Malton crew was training.

“The service regularly moves staff and fire engines to provide balanced cover across North Yorkshire,” they added.