URGENT calls to halt cuts to fire stations have been made after claims Dovercourt has failed to recruit firefighters and the town is regularly being left without a second engine.

Ivan Henderson, a Harwich and Essex county councillor, has raised major safety concerns about plans to axe the day crew at Dovercourt and instead run on retained firefighters.

He said the cost-cutting measures should be put on hold, at least until a review of schools and buildings is carried out by a new Essex County Council committee.

“The Labour group put forward a motion to cabinet last Tuesday to bring our buildings up to standard after the Grenfell Tower fire,” he said “A cross-party independent commission will look at all buildings in Essex.

“We shouldn’t decrease the coverage in firefighters until we know the outcome of that.”

Essex Fire Service agreed a swathe of cuts last June to save up to £6.4million a year following Government cuts.

But Mr Henderson, who was part of a march against the cuts in Dovercourt, said the plans need to be put on hold.

“They don’t seem to be prepared to stop and have another look at it,” he added.

“My concern is the retained firefighters do a fantastic job and their commitment is exemplary, but in Harwich it’s not working.

“They had a really good recruitment drive in Clacton but in Harwich we haven’t recruited any retained firefighters for it to happen.

“Our retained engine has been off the run on several occasions over the past few weeks.

“That means we have one engine and we have to wait 28 minutes for another from Manningtree or Clacton or wherever.

“That’s a critical time.”

It takes four firefighters to man an engine but Mr Henderson said on many weekends the station doesn’t have the staff available.

A spokesman for the fire service said: “The Dovercourt Fire station on-call recruitment project supports our transformation and change programme that was agreed in June 2015 by the Essex Fire Authority.

“We are currently recruiting on-call firefighters and encourage everyone who is interested in this exciting and rewarding career and lives or works within five minutes of the station, to contact us to find out more.

“Call 01376 576698, email oncall.recruitment@essex-fire.gov.uk or visit www.essex-fire.gov.uk/oncall.

“As agreed by the authority, Dovercourt is planned to change from a day-crewed station to an on-call station by March 2020.”