Crews in crisis

The complement of retained firefighters will be reduced to nine later this summer as two more men stand down. The station's two fire appliances requires a minimum crew of four, although ideally five should be on board.

Recently because of the shortfall in manpower, the station has had to rely on crews from the neighbouring villages of Pewsey and Ramsbury to maintain cover in Marlborough.

Station officer David Ward, who is in charge of the fire station in The Parade, said: "One person leaves at the end of May and another at the end of July and, although we hope to welcome one new recruit, this will still leave us desperately short.

"Everyone has to give up every bit of their spare time to make up the shortfall, just to keep the two pumps on the run.

"Retained firefighting is always a committed job, but the Marlborough crews are having to commit themselves 110 per cent.

"We can't go off at weekends and we have to work out annual holidays very carefully to make sure we have enough firefighters to crew the two vehicles."

Compared to 15 retained firefighters at Pewsey, which has a population of 3,410, and 11 at Ramsbury, with a population of 1,880, Marlborough's ten-strong fire crew has to protect a town with a population of 8,000.

Mr Ward blame the shortfall on the town's present economy. He said: "The trouble is there is no light industrial work here and the kind of people who might be prepared to be retained firefighters have to go out of Marlborough to earn a living.

The average age of people in the town is also quite high. A lot of people are self-employed and you can't expect them to down tools just to earn £5 an hour as a retained firefighter."

Steve Law, the Wiltshire Fire Brigade officer in charge of the recruitment of retained firefighters, said the brigade had worked very hard over the years to recruit more firefighters in Marlborough.

He said: "The attrition rate of firefighters leaving is between ten and 15 per cent and we can barely keep our heads above water.

"Marlborough is a key station, which means that one fire tender has to be on standby at any time. So, if one crew is out on a call, we have to ask crews from either Ramsbury or Pewsey to stand by at Marlborough.

"The shortage of men is making things difficult for the existing crews at Marlborough. They are making Herculean efforts to keep the level of cover up to standard. If there were more recruits, they could take more time off and lead more normal lives."

Further pressure was put on retained firefighters during the recent pay dispute by the Fire Brigades' Union, when retained firefighters had to give cover during stoppages by union members.

Mayor Margaret Boulton said: "There are several reasons why Marlborough has such a tough time recruiting people, but the main reason is the cost of housing. People are under a great deal of pressure to pay enormous mortgages and are working all the hours just to make ends meet."

There is particular concern because Marlborough has a long history of disastrous fires. Much of the town centre was burned down in the Great Fire of 1653.

In more recent years part of the Polly Tea Rooms were destroyed in a blaze, and on New Year's Day 1993 properties on the north side of the High Street were badly damaged by fire.

In June 1998 three listed buildings near the town hall were gutted by fire.

Those interested in becoming a retained firefighter can call (01380) 731144.

An open evening at the station for recruits is being held on June 16.