A MOVE to bring in 84-hour weekly shifts for firefighters has received the backing of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).

The cost-saving scheme, called Day Crewing Plus means officers will spend 42 hours a week working at the station and a further 42 hours a week on call.

Rawtenstall and Darwen fire stations are currently two of six stations the move is set to be trialled at, with the possibility of it being introduced elsewhere.

Another option considered and rejected was to introduce smaller engines at some stations.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We had a consultation phase which came to an end on 9 November. It is now due to go before the Lancashire Fire Authority on 14 December.

“The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) is supporting the proposals and they have been overwhelmingly supported by the firefighters themselves.

“But this will not be formally accepted until 14 December and after that it could be rolled out elsewhere. It won't just happen overnight.”

It is expected that the system will save up to £2.4M a year.

Fire chiefs say there will be no redundancies as a result of the bringing it in, but officers who retire will not be replaced and there will be a freeze on recruiting full-time firefighters.

They also say it will not reduce in a reduction in the number of stations or engines available.

Steve Harman, Lancashire branch secretary of the FBU said: “The problem we have is that year on year, the funding to run the service has reduced.

“Of the total budget the service has, 80 per cent of it is on salaries. As a union, we accept this as the lesser of the evils we could have.”

He added: “We would ideally like to have full-time firefighters working 42-hour weeks, but in the present climate, we have to look outside the box.

“The only other two ways they could save money would be by either having less fire engines, or less firefighters on them, which compromises safety.

“We are being pragmatic about this and we are continuing to fight for more funding both at local and national level.”