KINVER’S firefighters are likely to remain in the village after Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service has recommended not pursuing its new delivery model.

The fire service had proposed to remove emergency cover from a number of fire stations across the county– and Kinver’s recently-opened £1.9m community station was listed among them.

However, following a consultation period, as well as feedback from residents, organisations and MPs, the service is recommending the proposals are scrapped.

The final decision on whether to enforce the New Delivery Model Community Safety Options 2015 will be made by the Fire and Rescue Authority (FRA) at its meeting on Monday (July 13).

Becci Bryant, deputy chief executive, said: “We received a great deal of feedback from residents, members of staff, partner organisations and stakeholders during the 12-week consultation.

“We have listened closely to and have carefully considered the views that were put forward and, as a result, the recommendation is not to pursue the New Delivery Model option.

“One of the reasons for this recommendation is the significant impact that we would experience in our ability to undertake prevention activities. These activities are a cornerstone of our ability to reduce incidents and improve the safety of the residents of Staffordshire.”

The new model was initially proposed as part of the FRA’s attempts to save £1.7m for the financial year of 2015/2016.

Ms Bryant said: “We are conscious that savings do need to be made by the FRA and this, coupled with the fact that the number of incidents have reached an all-time low, means that we have to put forward recommendations to ensure that we are operating in the most efficient and effective way.

“As a service we strongly believe that prevention is far better than cure and the fact that the number of incidents has been decreasing year-on-year supports this ethos.

“We have made a significant investment into continuing this work through our community fire stations which allow us to have far greater levels of engagement with residents, meaning that we can educate and advise people on fire safety in the home and on the roads.”

Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, has recently been collection signatures for a petition to stop the fire station cuts, which he presented to the House of Commons on Wednesday evening (July 8).

At the time of presentation the petition had close to 3,000 signatures from residents across the district.

Mr Williamson said: “I would like to thank all those who signed the petition, particularly those who delivered leaflets across the constituency.

“The amount of signatures clearly sends a clear message to the fire service that their ideas are utterly rejected by the people of South Staffordshire.”