Gainsborough’s fire station to go 24 hours

Gainsborough is among seven other stations to see these improvements, with the others in Boston, Grantham, Louth, Skegness, Sleaford and Spalding.

Officials say that the number of times that a full-time crew is one of the first on the scene of an emergency is expected to almost double as a result, which would mean less reliance on retained officers, who work on-call.

Lincs chief fire officer Dave Ramscar welcomed the changes.

“By re-distributing our staff and changing how they operate we can increase the number of fire stations with full-time crews from two to nine,” he said.

“This means that we will be a more resilient service, with a better capacity to respond to emergencies.”

Lincs Fire and Rescue is also proposing to increase the amount of weekly training given to on-call firefighters from an average of two hours to three - to ensure that they continue to be able to meet the likely demands of any incident.

The plans also include a scheme for full-time firefighters, who have more time available, to be trained to a more advanced level than their on-call colleagues, meaning that they will be able to give specialist support at incidents.

Mr Ramscar added: “Our top priority is to keep people safe by providing a first-class fire and rescue service that responds quickly to emergencies.”

Lincs Fire and Rescue wants to hear from as many people as possible before 31st January, when the consultation closes. To share your views visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/LFRconsultation