Firefighters in Pudsey have issued an SOS to save their station from closure and are urging residents to sign a petition to back their campaign.

If proposals by West Yorkshire Fire Service go ahead, Pudsey and Bramley fire stations will close and merge at a new site at Stanningley, about a mile from the present station at Pudsey.

Firefighters claim lives could be put at risk, saying one front-line appliance will be lost as only two fire engines will be stationed at the new site, which will provide cover 110,000 people

They say back-up from nearby Bradford could not be guaranteed as Bradford is already a busy station.

The proposals by the Fire Authority are now out to public consultation.

At a public meeting, Labour MP for Pudsey Paul Truswell pledged to back the firefighters' campaign to keep their station.

He said: "Over the last three years since these proposals were first mooted, I have had a number of meetings with firefighters and have been very impressed by the quality of their arguments.

"I don't feel the Pudsey station should close."

Leading firefighter at Pudsey and FBU secretary Malcolm Nelson said lives could be put at risk because response times to emergencies would be slower.

He said: "Front-line appliances are further away so front-line appliances are bound to be slower.

"We feel the people of Pudsey are getting a raw deal, and that their lives and property are being put at risk. We see this as simply a cost- cutting measure."

Sean Cahill, vice chairman of Bradford FBU, said the money spent on the merger could be better used to re-vamp Bradford's Nelson Street station, which could be moved to a new site on Leeds Road under the proposals, which Mr Nelson said would be "no way large enough".

It is proposed that the surplus fire engine from the merger and the crew of 28 fire fighters would move to Fairweather Green station, Bradford.

Fire fighters are now urging people in Pudsey to sign a petition before October 18.

A public meeting on the proposals will be held by West Yorkshire Fire Authority on Monday, October 11, at 7pm at Pudsey Civic Hall.

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