All eight on call fire stations threatened with closure are to stay open – for now.

Andy Cole, chief fire officer for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, changed his recommendation to the board after a prolonged campaign by concerned residents and thousands of responses to a public consultation.

The eight stations – Maiden Newton, Charmouth, Mere, Bradford on Avon, Hamworthy, Wilton, Cranborne and Ramsbury – were all earmarked for closure in a bid to save £1.2million a year.

However after taking into consideration the public’s response and having secured £1.8 million of one-off Government funding, Mr Cole revised his stance.

The Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue board backed his recommendation – to keep the stations open for now, but to keep the option open to close them if the authority isn’t able to raise council tax to cover the shortfall in future – estimated to be £1.7m next year.

Mr Cole said: “This one-off funding does not resolve the authority’s long-term financial position and we continue to face a deficit in future years, however it does provide more time for the service to make changes through our modernisation programme.”

There remain concerns about what shape the ‘modernisation’ could take and the impact this could have on Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue stations.

The stations remaining open rely on two conditions – that the authority can raise its council tax precept to ‘at least the national average for fire services for 2027/28’, and that there are ‘no other and further reductions in funding’.

Mr Cole says if these conditions aren’t met he will again recommend all eight fire stations are closed.
Despite the good news, village campaigners are keeping up the pressure – fearing the rug could still be pulled at any moment.

More than 50 villagers from Maiden Newton came together to re-enact how a village would have fought fires a century 200 years ago – and demonstrate the need for a fire station in the village.

Villagers formed a line to haul water from the bridge over the River Frome in buckets that were then passed down a line to fill the original village hand pump (circa 1800).

The Maiden Newton Action Group held the event to demonstrate they would keep up the fight.

Carol King, one of the organisers of the campaign against Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue station closures, smiling in a high-vis vest at the bucket chain event — Carol King

Carol King, one of the organisers, told the crowd: “This shows how hard it is to look after property if you don’t have modern firefighting equipment nearby, and how every second counts.”

One of the reasons Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue were looking at on call fire stations for closure is the difficulty they have recruiting.

But Andy Elliott, chief fire officer in Maiden Newton and a member of the Fire and Rescue Service Association, said three people had already come forward to be on call firefighters since the campaign to save the station started.

Harry Walker, a village firefighter and member of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “The decision is very positive; it is not a fully done deal, and we need to keep up the fight.

“While this bucket event is a symbolic gesture, the meaning behind it is very serious. We need to keep our fire appliance and look to recruit.”

Sam Strudwick, from the action group, said: “This is a fantastic village, and we have seen so many people come out. We have to start by saying it’s a victory on one level, but we have to keep the pressure on.”

The news comes after one of the stations not under threat, Bere Regis, did not have enough staff to attend an accident on the A31 recently. To be an on call firefighter you must live within a tight radius of a fire station and be physically fit.

Find out more at the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue website.