firefighters in Malvern fear the station could lose its full-time officers under budget cuts ordered by the Government.

Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority this week raised the prospect of making more than a quarter of full-time firefighters redundant, as part of a package of moves to axe £2.6 million from its budget.

The cut has been ordered by the Government, which says the fire authority is putting too much pressure on the Council Tax-payer.

The authority is now trying to challenge the decision on appeal.

Sub Officer Chris George, from Malvern Fire Station, said staffing cuts would not necessarily be at Malvern but the likelihood was that local firefighters would be transferred to cover for losses at larger stations.

"Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume cover would be provided by retained firefighters," he said.

Retained firefighters have other jobs but are available to answer calls from the fire service. Many stations are run entirely by part-timers including Ledbury, Bromyard, Upton and Newent, although all are smaller towns than Malvern.

Station Officer Ian Seward said that these towns were supported by stations like Malvern, with full-time staff.

"If Malvern were to lose its whole-time staff the community of Malvern and the surrounding areas would be affected," he said.

"Skills like the line rescue and off-road and command support take a lot of time in training to maintain. Without that time, which the retained staff don't have, they will not be able to maintain confidence."

Paul Brownhill, Fire Brigade Union representative for Malvern Fire Station, said members would be balloted for strike action if redundancies were demanded.

As well as job losses among full-timers, the service is also looking to shed 39 per cent of administrative staff and 13 per cent of retained firefighters. It has not yet specified where the job losses will be.