A LEAFLET about the future of Ellesmere Port's fire service is being sent to 35,000 homes in the borough.

Cheshire Fire Service is mailing out the fact sheet to inform residents of changes taking place at the station on Wellington Road.

It is also e-mailing it to community leaders in the borough and including it on its website.

The move is meant to counter spec-ulation that sweeping cuts may be made to fire cover in the town, potentially putting lives at risk.

Any talk of cuts or redundancies has been denied by the service.

The fact sheet claims the changes, brought in under the integrated risk management plan, will actually improve fire cover and help save more lives.

It says: 'We believe in maintaining a first-class service and believe strongly we can continue to improve standards of safety for our communities.

'It doesn't make sound operational or financial sense to have big fire engines

with a large number of personnel waiting on stations for events that may or may not occur.'

The service says its data can pinpoint when incidents are most likely to happen.

The leaflet adds: 'From this, we can place our resources, both human and physical, in areas where we know the likelihood of risk is high and an emergency will probably take place.

'We can ensure all possible steps are taken so, in the event of an emergency, people are able to escape from fire and ensure the safety of those around them.'

Historically, the service had a legal requirement to get one engine to a house fire within eight to 10 minutes, which had to be achieved at least 75% of the time. The service always sent two engines.

Now, it says it aims to continue sending two engines to such fires but within six to 10 minutes.

And it aims to achieve this at least 90% of the time. Nine personnel will still be sent to these fires.

The leaflet says data shows the majority of fire calls - 79% - in Ellesmere Port are to small rubbish fires.

The town has an annual average of 1,117 small fires, 386 property fires, 139 calls to road accidents and the like, 312 automatic fire alarms going off and 57 incidents of arson.

The leaflet says: 'Low-risk incidents take time and resources away from protecting the wider community and from being available for real emergencies.'

Therefore, it claims, lesser incidents can be tackled by a smaller fire engine called a midi-appliance, which will also be available for community safety work.

The service reassures people who may be worried about any potential incidents at the Port's chemical plants, saying safety standards are 'very rigorous'.

The leaflet explains a shift system is being introduced in 2006 which will have the optimum number of personnel on duty and available to man the fire appliances.