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A public consultation is ongoing on the proposals, which could see Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service reducing cover at three stations in order to save £2 million – while increasing cover at Ashfield Fire Station in Kirkby, which was controversially cut four years ago.

The changes, proposed by NFRS to reduce a budget deficit, would see West Bridgford Fire Station have no crew on duty at all at night, and London Road and Stockhill stations lose one fire engine each, but 24-hour cover would return at Ashfield.

Rushcliffe Labour held a public meeting in West Bridgford where speakers told of their fears if the changes go ahead.

Mark Stilwell, Fire Brigades Union regional chairman and a Nottinghamshire firefighter for more than 20 years, said: “It’s a tragedy waiting to happen.

“We’re going to get a massive incident eventually and we’ll be looking at what we should’ve done better.

“The implications of these proposed cuts are massive.”

Ashfield residents urged to have their say on plans to revert to whole-time cove...

The Home Office said NFRS has had an increase of 5.2 per cent in funding compared with 2021/22 and that the service held £10.7m in reserves as of March 2021, up £0.9m compared with the previous year.

A final decision on the plans is expected in February. If approved after the public consultation, the changes will go ahead from April 2023.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Candida Brudenell said the service has “faced more than a decade of severe, continued and increasing financial pressures”.

She said: “We don’t want to be in this position, but because of our legal requirement to set a balanced budget, we have to propose changes.

“The suggested changes have been independently assessed by a sector-leading specialist, following a comprehensive risk analysis across the city and county.

“The location of a fire station, its resources, and staffing models are all informed by a significant amount of data analysis, including community risk profiling and historical incident demand review.

“The proposal is one that enables us to save the money required, with the least impact on performance.

She urged people to have their say on the proposal at notts-fire.gov.uk, before December 23.”

Claims proposed fire cuts are ‘tragedy waiting to happen’