FIRE unions are concerned about the knock-on effect of withdrawing a fire engine.

The proposed removal of the third appliance from Ellesmere Port Fire Station will be decided by the Cheshire Fire Authority a week today .

And the Fire Brigades' Union (FBU) is worried the move would increase possible safety risks, not only for people living in the town, but also neighbouring communities including Chester, Frodsham and Neston.

This has been strongly denied by Cheshire Fire Service management which claims Cheshire's standards of fire cover are higher than the old national standards - now abolished.

A fire service spokesman said the standards of cover operated in Cheshire place more emphasis on lives than property.

But Cheshire FBU says it was the availability of the third pump which was used to justify Chester losing its retained engine, and Frodsham Fire Station being down-graded from day manning to a retained station.

Ellesmere Port Fire Station also covers Neston.

Firefighter Steve Williams, the FBU health & Safety coordinator, said: 'If only one fire appliance is able to go to a house fire and there is somebody trapped, the firefighters' way of working is they will go in and save them if they can. But what they would be doing is going against Standard Operating Procedures.

'To do a safe rescue you need nine firefighters, five on one and four on the other.'

Firefighter Williams, who is based at Ellesmere Port Station, says the service's stated target of improving attendance times for residential fires from eight-10 minutes to six-10 minutes 90% of the time will not be achieved.

And he said there could be occasions during simultaneous incidents at Chester and Ellesmere Port when back-up would have to come from Runcorn Fire Station which was 14 or 15 minutes away.'

Cheshire Fire Service insists the loss of the third pump would 'have no effect'.

Spokesman Evan Morris said: 'The new standard places greater emphasis on risk to life and targets resources to property, where there is greater probability of fire.'

Mr Morris also said firefighters rescued on average three times the number of people from road accidents as from fires and yet historically there had been no statutory requirement to even respond to such incidents or attend within set time limits.

'The new standards, therefore, have a greater potential,' he said.