FIRE chiefs have launched a campaign to overturn proposed cuts in Government funding - and urged the people of North Yorkshire to lend their support.

The rallying cry was issued yesterday by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority as it revealed that the Government still has not explained why it is set to get below-inflation rises in its grant for the next three years.

Authority members said they were "baffled" by the increase of just one per cent in the coming financial year, followed by only 0.5 per cent per annum in the following two years, when other authorities were getting increases as high as 8.5 per cent.

They said the authority would do its utmost to ensure front-line services were not cut, but stressed that after years of savings, this could be difficult if the full three years of cuts were not reversed.

Coun Ken King, who as a City of York Council representative is vice-chairman of the authority, said: "The campaign is starting today. We want the public to support it by writing to their MPs, and maybe starting petitions."

He said that if the 0.5 per cent increases were to go ahead, it would be a "serious blow" to the fire service.

The Press has reported previously how a deputation of senior fire officers and authority members travelled to London earlier this month to ask a Government Minister, Ian Wright, why North Yorkshire had fared so much more badly in its grant than others, including several in the Yorkshire region, and to ask for a better settlement.

Earlier this week, the authority revealed that it was definitely getting only one per cent in the next year, and was provisionally being given 0.5 per cent each year over the following two years.

Chief Fire Officer Nigel Hutchinson said yesterday that the Minister had listened to the deputation's views but had not answered their question either then or subsequently. He said he felt the people of North Yorkshire deserved an explanation.

Mr Hutchinson said that North Yorkshire was one of ten authorities to receive only one per cent, with an average rise across the country of 3.2 per cent and one authority getting 8.7 per cent.

He warned that in the eventuality of firefighters being awarded a three per cent pay increase nationwide, North Yorkshire could be left with a shortfall of between £600,000 and £900,000. He said it was too early to say how the shortfall would be met if the 0.5 per cent increases went ahead, but stressed that every effort would be made to avoid cutting back on front-line emergency services.