A YORK councillor sitting on North Yorkshire’s Fire Authority has explained why he backed plans to give two senior officers an extra £35,000.

Cllr Tony Richardson says the promotion - which granted the officers a pay rise each to £112,000 - is part of a package to reduce managers at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, and they are paid a six figure salary because of the work they do.

He said: “This is part of a cost-cutting package.

“£35,000 each would not pay for a full-time fire fighter.

“I’m OK with them getting that money because it is part of the structure and agreed by the union.

“I’m OK with the fire service officer coming to us and saying this will save us £1.2million, that’s fine.”

The Fire Brigade Union slammed the decision because it comes when they claim 48 frontline fire fighter posts face the axe and a standard fire engine is replaced with a tactical response ‘miniature’ vehicle.

Cllr Richardson said the majority of the 48 fire fighters were moving into a retained role on the same pay and nobody is losing their job.

He added: “Under the re-structure some of the crews are becoming retained so we are not getting rid of them, we are changing the way they work.

“As far as I’m aware none of the officers have complained about the new vehicle.

“The comments made by the union are not appropriate and I hope they can sit down and resolve what is going on.”

Labour councillor Danny Myers also represents the Fire Authority, and voted against the changes, holding a different view of the re-structure.

He said: “Only Labour rejected the Fire Authority Budget at last month’s meeting, all other parties voted for more cuts to the frontline.

“There are real problems within North Yorkshire Fire Service, as there are not enough full-time fire-fighters. We do not accept the loss of nearly 50 fire fighters in North Yorkshire; and we certainly do not accept the staffing of fire vehicles with only two fire fighters; which restricts the type of incidents fire crews can respond to.”