Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service is facing a 24 per cent cut in funding from Central Government.

A parliamentary bulletin from the Fire Brigades Union states: "On February 20, 2017, the Department for Communities and Local Government, DCLG, confirmed its Local Government Settlement, providing figures for the central grant allocated to metropolitan and combined fire authorities in England.

"They show that the Westminster government has cut the central grant, known as the Settlement Funding Assessment, SFA, to fire authorities by a further 20 per cent over four years."

The figures show that Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service will be among the biggest losers, with cuts of 24 per cent, with the highest cuts being made to Shropshire and Hereford and Worcester services, both of which are having their grants cut by 28 per cent.

The least affected, Cleavland and the Westmidlands services, are still losing out on 15 per cent of their SFA.

Local Chief Fire Officer Lee Howell said: “Following reductions to our finance settlement from Government, we have managed our grant reductions so far without having to close fire stations or make compulsory redundancies and taking a long term view has helped us plan for the future.

"We want to continue to do the right things for the right reasons, not just to reduce costs, and we are going to have to manage our budget very carefully over the next four years”.

The bulletin continues: "The cuts come on top of savage central funding reductions since 2010, which were highlighted in the National Audit Office report on the financial sustainability of fire and rescue services in 2015.

"What this government and its predecessor have done to the fire and rescue service is a travesty. They have axed 10,000 firefighter jobs across the UK during the last seven years – around one fifth of the workforce.

"At a time of increasing risks from an ageing population, flooding and various other emergencies, they are tearing up the fabric of our communities. It’s about time politicians raised their voices in protest."

Between March 2015 and April 2016, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service received 23,562 emergency calls and attended 17,707 incidents. Of those incidents, 3,988 were fires, 8,657 were ’Special Service Incidents’, and 5,062 were false alarms.

Special Service Incidents, which DSFRS attend include Road Traffic Collisions, ’co-responder incidents’ – medical emergencies for which DSFRS provided first response on behalf of the South Western Ambulance Service – and other incidents such as flooding, rescues from height or confined spaces, and animal rescues.