FIREFIGHTERS in Wyre Forest have been left in fear of their jobs after Government spending chiefs demanded a £2.3 million budget cut.

The orders from the top - which came after a 23.5 per cent increase in this year's fire brigade component in council tax bills - left an agonising question mark over Wyre Forest crews, they said.

The Government's decision to cap Hereford and Worcester Combined Fire Authority would see the average council tax bill come down by about £7 - but ratepayers have been warned it would put lives and property at risk.

Station commander David Williams, of Kidderminster Fire Station, said: "There are concerns among the staff about what the future could hold - there are real fears.

"The fire service is changing and now there is a possibility of jobs being affected but we have to wait and see. The fire brigade will still continue but what form it will take remains to be seen."

Sub-officer Pip Potter, of Stourport Fire Station, which has retained firefighters, said: "We are concerned and we would not welcome any cuts that put our lives and the lives of the community in danger."

Meanwhile, sub-officer Rod Maiden, of retained Bewdley Fire Station, said: "Keeping a retained station open is peanuts compared to a full-time station and it is the full-time members that are probably at risk more than anybody else."

The fire authority meets on May 18 to decide its response to the capping order. Members are expected to appeal against the Government's decision, which could restrict next year's budget instead.

Authority chairman, Richard Udall, said the effects of cutting back on the brigade's 29.4 per cent increase in this year's council tax would be "catastrophic".

He said: "I cannot rule out the possibility of redundancies, whether they're of fire-fighters, officers or non-uniformed staff.

Hereford and Worcester was the only fire authority to be capped, along with six councils, by local government minister Nick Raynsford.

Mr Raynsford said the budgets were "excessive" but fire authority spokesman, Alec Mackie, hit back, stating the huge increase was because the fire authority was collecting its cash direct from the council tax payer for the first time, instead of through Worcestershire County Council.

This meant it had to come up with a special "contingency fund" in case of disasters. Resolving the firefighters' pay dispute and putting in place the Government's modernisation programme also prompted the rise, he said.

Re-billing council tax payers would cost the authority an extra £500,000 if budget cuts were made this year, he added.