Three of the eight fire and rescue stations stations that attended the collapse at the Apollo Theatre last night will close under the Mayor of London’s cuts programme after the failure of a challenge taken to the High Court by campaigners.
Reacting to the court’s decision, Fire Brigades Union London Secretary, Paul Embery, said:
“The Apollo Theatre collapse demonstrates how dependent the safety of Londoners is on the stations that Boris Johnson intends to close.
“If the cuts go ahead, the mayor will end up with blood on his hands.
““These cuts are reckless, wrong and will jeopardise the safety of millions of Londoners: it will only be a matter of time before someone dies as a result of a fire engine failing to reach them in time.
“Although campaigners lost the legal case, we won the moral argument, and even at this late stage, we would urge the Mayor to reconsider.”
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wants to close 10 fire stations and slash around 600 frontline firefighter posts.
The High Court case was brought to the High Court by seven local authorities, who argued that the cuts were dangerous, irrational and unlawful.
The Fire Brigades Union was an ‘interested party’ in the case, argues that the cuts will lead to delayed response times for four million Londoners.
94% of Londoners opposed the cuts in a public consultation exercise alongside the London Assembly and The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) which governs fire and rescue services in the capital.
The ten stations are scheduled to close on 9 January 2014.
The FBU is considering any rights to appeal the High Court’s decision.
