COMMUNITY volunteers have been called upon to keep people safe as firefighters responding to more and more emergencies on behalf of the ambulance service, can't give up 'any more time'.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue service said its increased responsibilities meant it needed to reconsider how it keeps communities safe.

The proposals would see 'community safety wardens' – either volunteers or paid employees – carry out fire safety checks, conduct social care home visits and promote safety campaigns.

Earlier this week it was revealed South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) spent more than £16m on private ambulances last year to cope with increased demand – the most in the country.

Chief fire officer Simon Furlong said he was 'confident' his crews could respond to emergencies and carry out all the service's responsibilities.

But he said the service had reached capacity and on-call firefighters were unable to give up any more time to community safety.

He said: "We have got to a level of capacity and we want to do more in our communities to make people safer.

"We are looking at key volunteers within each community and could also employ people as part of the model

Mr Furlong added they were looking for someone to be 'our eyes and ears on the ground'.

The safety 'wardens' could also visit the most isolated and vulnerable people to tackle loneliness.

On-call firefighters, who work on a part-time basis, receive two hours training a week and also respond to emergencies.

Over the past year the service's responsibilities have grown and its scheme for firefighters to gain entry to properties in medical emergencies on behalf of SCAS has led to the re-think over community safety.

An action plan seen by The Oxford Times said: "The current model is heavily reliant on our firefighters completing many varied prevention activities.

"However as our emergency calls rise as we take on new community based roles such as co-responding to medical emergencies, and gaining entry on behalf of the ambulance service, we need to ensure we have a sustainable model that is fit for the future."

It added that communities would be made to 'build their own resilience' through the safety wardens and that neighbours and friends should keep each other safe and well.

In 2016/17 crews attended 1,736 co-responder incidents, an initiative to help SCAS with its response times.

In May the fire service took on the body recovery service for Oxfordshire County Council's Coroner and now responds to all sudden deaths in the county.

In the same month the fire service began training its crews to gain entry to properties during medical emergencies, increasing emergency callouts further.

Its six-month trial to provide NHS patient transport – which sees an average of eight people transported each day – will now continue until the end of the year and could be made permanent.

It has led to the service's community safety projects being reconsidered.

Secretary of Oxfordshire's Fire Brigades Union, Mark Ames, said firefighters were in the best position to offer safety advice but that the new model must not reduce their role in the community.

He said: "I would encourage the community to help itself by people carrying out voluntary work but that shouldn't be used to reduce the number of firefighters.

"The role of a firefighter has changed massively over the years but their expertise and knowledge of attending fires puts them in a fantastic position to offer fire safety advice in the home.

"But when it comes to wider safety, such as doorstep crime, it may be better left to the police."

In May on-call firefighters took on the body recovery service for the coroner at sudden death incidents.

The role was previously commissioned to an external company but has now been taken on by crews based at Eynsham, Bampton, Burford and Witney.

Mr Ames said the move was damaging to the mental wellbeing of firefighters as well as adding to their workloads.

He said: "I don't support firefighters doing this at all, it has an adverse effect on their mental wellbeing and it's not what they joined the fire service for.

"The Government needs to provide the county council with sufficient funding for professionals to carry out the body recovery service again."