Windsor crews stretched to max

A FIREFIGHTER has hit out over plans to slash around-the-clock fire cover in Windsor after another busy weekend stretched resources to the max.

Windsor Fire Station was called to back up Slough twice in just 24 hours over the Easter weekend as well as attending a number of calls in the town.

This is at a time plans to close the station from 8pm to 8am forge ahead.

The Windsor crew were on hand at an incident at the Mars factory in Slough, which tied up both pumps from Slough and Langley. Firefighters were then later sent back to Slough for standby cover at the station, which will cover Windsor when appliances are moved to Wokingham from 8pm to 8am.

Fire brigades union representative at Windsor Fire Station, Michael Rowley, said: "This is something we have to do time and time again. The Windsor appliance has a valuable place in Berkshire.

"We frequently back Slough up and if Windsor goes to Wokingham they will be covering Windsor as well and judging by the amount of times Windsor backs Slough and Slough is one of the busiest stations in Berkshire resources will be very stretched. It will be a lottery of whether Slough is able to cover Windsor or not.

"The standard of fire cover in East Berkshire will drop and that doesn't only put firefighters at risk, but residents as well."

In the last year from April 2008 to April 2009 the Windsor crew have been sent on standby to Slough 58 times, Maidenhead 32 times and Bracknell 309 times.