FIRE chief Phil Toase has defended the changes he is making to fire services in West Yorkshire.

He has hit back at critics who claim that modernising the fire service simply means cutbacks.

Mr Toase said: "Critics say my proposals could cost lives. I carry the knowledge that resistance to change in the past has cost far too many lives."

The Fire Brigades' Union and members of the public began complaining last year, when new rules allowed local chiefs to start changing resources to suit local needs without having to wait for Government permission.

West Yorkshire Fire Service is in the second year of a five-year scheme of assessing resources and putting forward proposals for change to West Yorkshire Fire Authority.

Plans this year include gradually changing staffing at Slaithwaite fire station from full to part-time.

Marsden fire station will be improved and cash will be used for campaigns such as fitting sprinklers to schools and new buildings.

West Yorkshire Fire Authority is expected to decide on this year's proposals on October 29.

The FBU have spoken out against changes, including staffing Holmfirth fire station with part-time instead of full-time staff and cutting the number of fire engines attending automated fire alarms from three to one.

Mr Toase denies his changes are about cutting resources.

He says he is simply moving resources to where they are most needed.

He said:

"West Yorkshire has the right level of resources it needs, but they are by no means all in the right place or of the right kind.

"The fairly modest fine tuning I'm recommending will enable me to guarantee 36,000 free home risk assessments, devote extra help to the frail and elderly and work on building two new fire stations.

"There would be no redundancies and it would mean more investment in certain areas."

Kirklees councillor Robert Light chairs the West Yorkshire Fire Authority.

Clr Light said many areas, such as the Colne Valley, no longer needed the many fire fighters once required to cope with high fire risks such as mills.

He said: "We calculated the level of risk by the number of calls a station gets, plus the type of buildings in the area and the general geography."