RESIDENTS of Chipping Norton have been assured that the permanent removal of the town’s second fire engine is not cause for concern.

The move, which was given final approval by Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet last week, was made following low numbers of call-outs for the fire service in the area and difficulty around recruitment in the town.

Mayor Mike Tysoe, who described the situation as ‘worrying’, suggested the lack of on-call firefighters could be the result of a shift towards smaller businesses in Chipping Norton.

He said: “There is a remarkable lack of interest from the young men and women in this town to become on-call firefighters.

“We have loads of little companies rather than great big ones. The problem nowadays is that we have small companies of three to five people and if one or two of them run off things come to a grinding halt.

“It is a very difficult situation and I fully understand why it’s happened.”

There were only six calls for the second engine based in the town in 2014/15.

The county council said the move was agreed as part of the budget process in that year, after being proposed and consulted on as part of its medium term financial planning process in 2014.

Removal of the second fire engine had already been implemented on a temporary basis, with the decision made permanent by the county council's cabinet last week. It is expected to save £48,000 a year.

Spokeswoman for the county council Emily Reed said the action would not have been taken if the council was not confident over provision in the area.

She said: "It’s our legal and moral duty to ensure that the remaining fire cover provides appropriate response arrangements for Chipping Norton and that strategic fire and rescue cover arrangements for the county are maintained.

"We wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t confident."

There are currently seven firefighters based in Chipping Norton.

The second fire engine is now part of the council's strategic reserve and will be re-allocated to Carterton once the new station there becomes operational.

The service is recruiting on-call firefighters to be based at the new station off Monahan Way near the Pavillion in Carterton, which is expected to be build next year.

Applications for a training course starting in June are now being accepted.

Those interested in joining the fire service as an on-call firefighter are asked to go to oxfordshire.gov.uk/oncallfirefighters