LIVES could be put at risk if Cheshire Fire Service goes ahead with controversial plans to revamp the way it responds to 999 emergency calls.

That was the stark warning delivered to chief fire officer Steve McGuirk after a consultation meeting about Cheshire Fire Service's modernisation plans which include a triage system to prioritise calls.

And residents have been told the number of firefighters will be reduced, although reassurances have been offered that they will still receive the same level of service.

Mr McGuirk told an audience at Chester Town Hall the service should not be sending fire engines out to cats stuck up trees or hoax calls and queried whether it was the appropriate agency to be called out to reports of a smell of gas or people stuck in lifts.

The scale of the response was also brought into question. Was it really necessary to have a full scale 'cavalry charge' to a bin fire that was in no danger of spreading or even an automatic fire alarm when 92% of such alarms were false?

If a fire engine was busy dealing with a 'nothing incident' then it was not available to deal with a serious accident.

He argued for a 'proportionate' response, based on information gathered by a skilled control room operator who in future is likely to be sitting in a North West regional control centre.

But the audience was wary. City councillor Mia Jones (Lib Dem, Dodleston) explained that her neighbour's house was able to be burgled because the police told her on the phone they no longer responded to domestic burglar alarms.

She said: 'What we don't want is for the fire service to take arbitrary decisions that ultimately may cause loss of life or loss of property. Loss of property is not something I'm overly concerned about, my concern is about loss of life.'

Cllr Jones also explained that she had suffered two chimney fires in short succession, not because she did not get it swept regularly, but because birds kept building their nests in the flue. 'Would I be labelled a serial chimney fire person and not receive the same level of service in future?' she asked.

Cllr Jones also pointed out a caller in an emergency may not be coherent enough to pass on the relevant information for a control room operator to make the right decision. She added that time spent interrogating the caller may be time wasted in taking action: 'My concern is while a call is being challenged, lives could be at risk.'

Former Chester police chief, Cllr David Hughes (Lab, Lache Park) added: 'The danger is you frighten people off making 999 calls. People are frightened of calling the police and things are going by because of it. I hope the fire service doesn't go along that route.'

But Mr McGuirk said hoax calls were a classic case where callers needed to be challenged.

'You can even get it down to the same telephone box by the same school on the same day every week. We can go into schools but often it's down to one or two kids. Are we really going to send fire engines out with blue lights, putting firefighters and the public at risk, if there is a chance it's a hoax call?' he asked.

Mr McGuirk said the fire service might levy a charge for their services in a few cases. 'We are talking about the drunk who locks themselves out as they've forgotten their key at 2.00am. That's an abuse of the 999 service,' he said.

The number of firefighters would be cut if the draft Integrated Risk Management Plan goes ahead, with greater emphasis on public education about safety risks and fitting smoke alarms.

And firefighters worry their numbers will be reduced before the effects of preventative measures have begun to take effect.

The chief fire officer admitted at the meeting that there would be fewer fire-fighters which would be achieved through natural wastage since 30-40% of firefighters are retiring in the next five years.

'We still anticipate replacing a large number of these staff who are disappearing over the next five years but the reality is we won't be replacing all of them,' he said. Mr McGuirk, who refused to be drawn on exact numbers, said it was possible to achieve the same level of response by 'doing things differently' after analysing the risk in scientific way.

He speculated that in the case of Chester it might make sense to have two fire stations rather one, located next to housing estates.