FIREFIGHTERS sped through York with sirens blaring and blue lights flashing - because a cyclist needed them to cut her bike lock.

The emergency services have been accused of wasting public time and money over the incident, which was reported to The Press by witness Ian Mitchell.

He said he was waiting for a taxi in Duncombe Place at about 6.15pm last Tuesday, when he heard sirens and saw a fire engine rush to the scene, only to cut free the bike from a lock.

He said he believed the action was "a total waste of public money" which potentially put lives at risk.

Mr Mitchell said: "We thought 'oh dear one of the properties or restaurants was on fire', but what we and many people witnessed was outrageous, there were two community police officers at the bike racks and a member of the public had lost their key to their bike.

"This was a total waste of tax payers money and put the life of innocent people at risk, not only from the high speed dash and running red lights, but if there was a fire or a road traffic incident and this engine was needed and the wrong side of town, someone could have died."

York councillor Andrew Waller, who sits on North Yorkshire Fire Authority, said he would look into what had happened and why.

He said: "It seems unusual, but I don’t know the full details behind the case. I will be following this up, because I think that response times are something the public are very interested in.

“There may be reasons why it was handled that way, I don’t have that detail, but response times of all emergency services are something that I am keen to look into across the city for all residents.”

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police said: "A PCSO came to the assistance of a member of the public in Blake Street after an unknown third party had locked their bike to hers using a D lock.

"PCSOs do not carry metal cutting equipment and therefore assistance was requested from the agency who do. The bike was cut free - the other bike was secured by a second lock. It is not clear why the unknown person had locked the bike to theirs."

York Press:

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire crew had been called to the scene by police, but denied lives had been put at risk.

She said: "One fire engine from Huntington attended the scene and used an angle grinder to remove the lock.

"If an emergency incident came in whilst the crew were attending this incident the fire engine would have been redirected to the emergency by the service control room."

Mr Mitchell said he was not happy that the police and fire services were involved at all in the situation.

He said: "The emergency services should not have been called, this was not life threatening, they should had been made to walk home or get a taxi, or get a family member to bring bolt cutters.

"Calling the fire brigade was out of order, as was turning up as though it was a fire, and that person needs charging for them attending to cut their lock."