'It is completely false to suggest that Borehamwood Fire Station is being downgraded', says Richard Thake, cabinet member for community and safety on Hertfordshire County Council

Yesterday, the Fire Brigades Union released a statement saying the station had lost its status as one of Hertfordshire’s eight key stations.

The union’s chairman, Derek MacLeod, was concerned that cuts would result in stations not being crewed at all times.

But Richard Thake, cabinet member for community and safety on Hertfordshire County Council, said the statement was “inaccurate and misleading.”

He added: “It is completely false to suggest the station has been downgraded. It remains a fully crewed, 24 hour fire station. The operational arrangements for Borehamwood have not changed.

“No decision has been taken that suggests changing the status of the fire station. We would never make a decision about such changes without going through the normal democratic process of public meetings and consulting residents.”

Cliff Webb, a watch commander for the Elstree Road station, said the issue was just down to a misunderstanding that had been “blown out of proportion”.

Mr Webb, who has worked with the station for 18 months, said: “The way we man the fire station will not be changing at all, we will still be providing cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“All that has changed is that the officer in charge of fire control has the discretion to dispatch a fire engine from nearby St Albans to be on standby in Borehamwood if we get called out to a job that will take an hour or more.

“It is just an internal change. The station, the fire engine and the fire fighters are here to stay.”

The Borehamwood Times is awaiting comment from the Fire Brigades Union.