Wiltshire's Deputy Chief Fire Officer Simon Routh-Jones has warned there could be redundancies in the service because of spending cuts but said fire stations will not close.

The service has assumed a cut of 25 per cent to the funding it receives from the Government, which would amount to savings of £2.65 million over the next four years.

Mr Routh-Jones said: “With all the information coming from the Government, we are going to have to make significant savings. It would be wrong for me to say categorically there will be no redundancies. We have never been in a redundancy situation in Wiltshire and I personally find this difficult.”

The service employs about 680 staff.

Mr Routh-Jones, who has served his entire 31 years in the service in Wiltshire, went on: “It’s not numbers, they are people to me. Having grown up in this organisation a lot of people are my friends as well as colleagues and employees. It’s very personal.

“It’s difficult for staff at the moment. Their mood is of concern, anxiety and frustration. All of us are going to find it a difficult situation to deal with, but we are where we are. We have set up a comprehensive information and communication strategy for staff.” Mr Routh-Jones said the service did not know how many jobs could be axed and that rumours of 54 posts was speculation.

He said the service had kept some posts vacant in anticipation of savings, with about 10 vacancies unfilled so far.

Mr Routh-Jones said none of the 24 fire stations across the county would close. He also said the full time stations would not be downgraded to retained status but that different shift patterns were being considered.

He said: “We will be looking at the full structure of the service from the chief officer to the newest recruit. We will focus on our statutory duties of life saving and community fire safety. The whole objective is to give a better service for less, if feasible.”