CAMPAIGNERS say they want to prove to a fire boss that a recruitment drive for more on-call firefighters is failing.

Harwich councillors slammed Essex Fire Service’s campaign to enrol 20 on-call firefighters at Dovercourt fire station by 2020 at Harwich Town Council’s meeting on Tuesday night.

The fire service needs the extra on-call firefighters for when the station goes fully on-call in two years - current full-time crews will be scrapped as part of a bid to save up to £7million a year following Government cuts.

Councillor Ivan Henderson called for the council to write to Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst asking him for regular updates on how successful the recruitment campaign is going.

He said: “Since the recruitment campaign started in April 2017 and now Dovercourt fire station has lost an on-call firefighter and gained one.

“I have also been told attendance of the second fire engine in Dovercourt is below regular levels.”

Mr Henderson said he is updated regularly by the Essex Fire Brigades Union the recruitment campaign is failing.

He said: “We now want Roger Hirst to give us monthly updates on recruitment. We should ask him to provide us details of the availability of the on-call engine over the last year and it will show us if there are gaps in the day and night where we only have one engine available.

“It’s right we keep on top of this and call it out whenever we can to tell Roger Hurst it’s not a working campaign. We can’t take chances with emergency services.”

Councillor Pam Morrison told the meeting she recently visited Dovercourt fire station and said the station is looking at different ways to accommodate more on-call firefighters.

She said: “I was assured because Dovercourt station is a key station and there will always be pumps there, but nobody answers the question about what we are going to do about the recruitment issue.”

She said there are currently 12 on-call firefighters at the station.