Fire crews in rural communities throughout the county cannot attend fires because they face a shortage of on-call firefighters.

Hundreds of hours are not being covered by the current number of on-call firefighters, with most shortages falling during weekday afternoons when the part time fire fighters are working their day jobs.

Although 53 new on-call firefighters have been recruited in the last 16 months, 52 serving firefighters handed in their resignation over the same period.

Despite staff shortages, fire leaders confirmed that by using fully crewed pumps from nearby stations, no emergency calls have ever been left unattended.

On-call firefighters respond to emergency calls and are made up of local people who live or work within five to 10 minutes of the station.

Despite recruitment drives by Dorset and Wiltshire fire service, some stations have several hours a day where stations cannot respond to emergency calls due to a lack of staff.

All single pump stations that are maintained by on-call staff require 1176 hours worth of coverage each week.

Cricklade has a shortfall of 444 hours, while Calne has a shortfall of 413 hours.

Larger two-pump stations in Marlborough, Corsham and Amesbury require 2016 hours to man both pumps and currently face up to 1259 hours a week not accounted for.

During the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority local performance and scrutiny committee meeting held in Devizes (on Nov 1), Byron Standen, head of prevention and protection, said: “Often we can cover from other areas. We look at an area and where we have provision and what we can do to mitigate it.

“In some stations, while the second pump won’t be available we have at least one full crew. There have been no incidents where we have not been able to fully attend an accident and see it through to the end. We have an ageing workforce and we intend to use exit interviews to understand why people are leaving. We continue to be proactive over recruitment.”

Corsham is the only station that constantly has a full crew available on call to respond to fires. Fire chiefs said new housing developments being built out of towns mean less people live close enough to their fire station.

Councillor Pip Ridout said going community to events would spark an interest in the fire service from the public and lead to higher numbers being recruited. She said: “You are letting people experience the adrenaline of seeing the truck, having fun and incorporate talking to the real fire men but it’s a way that is quite effective and engages people.”

Mr Standen said: “Photos of children with the helmets on in a big truck are lovely and it is clear they are lapping it up but they do not show a lot of the work the fire service does.

“There is a perception about what we do but it’s not just about attending fires, it is about giving out safety advice and breaking down barriers out in the community. Showing people the other things we do could help with recruitment.”

Cllr Peter Hutton suggested that large businesses such should be approached to encourage employees to become an on call firefighter.

He said: “There is an element of corporate social responsibility.

“Also with the number of military rebasing going on in Wiltshire, there must be a big pool of people who will be retraining and they have the type of experience that would make them suitable for the fire service.”