Liberal Democrats demand urgent action on fire cover in Sudbury.

10.15.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 29th Aug 2009

Liberal Democrat Councillor and Parliamentary campaigner for South Suffolk is urging Suffolk County Council urgently deal with the closures of Sudbury fire station due to lack of retained staff by either recruiting more retained staff or bringing back full time firefighters.

It was revealed today that the station was closed 5 times in August due to lack of staff for the fire appliances. The economic recession has put pressure on the 21 retained staff and their employers.

Nigel Bennett said, "In 1999, I was part of the campaign to keep our 4 full time firefighters and I was part of the delegation to the Home Office in that fight. At the time we warned of circumstances like this occurring. Sudbury and Great Cornard with their surrounding villages deserve a 24/7 service and the Tory run County Council need to find a long term solution immediately to this shortage of staff and cover."