It appears Maiden Newton and Charmouth fire stations have been saved – for now.

Chief Fire Officer Andy Cole has reportedly changed his recommendation to Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Authority, from closing eight on call fire stations to temporarily merging two suburban stations with town stations.

Under the new plan, Hamworthy station will merge with Poole and Wilton with Salisbury for 12 months.

All other stations will be unaffected, for now.

The news comes after a huge campaign to fight the proposed closures by local people.

The closures were put forward to save £1.2million a year, but campaigners argued they were put forward based on flawed data. They feared people would die if the smaller stations, whose on call firefighters could reach local incidents much faster, were closed.

An official announcement was due to be made on June 30, following a public consultation. However it appears a decision has been made much earlier.

It is likely that the fire authority will be given the go ahead to raise its portion of the council tax, in order to cover the deficit.

The video shows campaigners on their way to form a ‘ring of fire’ around Maiden Newton fire station last week. Footage by Robert Robertson