One of West Yorkshire’s fire chiefs is set to lose their job as cuts begin to bite the top brass.

But those left behind to pick up the extra workload are having their salaries boosted to £106,021.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) has revealed a plan to make one of its four Area Managers redundant.

Area Managers, who currently earn £99,876, are office based senior fire fighters who only respond to the most serious incidents, when six or more pumps are attending.

There are just four in West Yorkshire, including former Kirklees District Commander, Chris Kirkby.

WYFRS says cutting down to three Area Managers will save £81,441 a year. They will be asked to radically boost their availability, being in work or “on call” all the time, and working one out of every three weekends.

Judith Hughes

WYFRS contracts also require them to be able to get back from any holiday within 24 hours.

Fire chiefs have decided the effect on their “work/life balance” warrants a £4,535 pay rise.

The loss of a senior boss comes just a few weeks after Clr Judith Hughes, chairman of West Yorkshire Fire Authority, revealed more cuts would be coming despite a 45% reduction over the past seven years.

West Yorkshire has seen some of the biggest cuts in the country, with the number of full-time firefighters dropping from 1,383 in April 2011 to 1,032 in March this year.