OXFORDSHIRE fire and rescue service risks losing more than half of its firefighters if a controversial European Union directive is imposed on the UK, campaigners warned last night.

It has been claimed moves to force Britain to adopt the European Working Time Directive would leave a part-time, retained fire service “unviable” because it would be illegal for anyone to work for more than 48 hours a week.

Retained firefighters, many of whom hold down full-time day jobs on top of their commitment to the fire service, make up 56 per cent of the county’s firefighters.

There are 328 of them on call, alongside 250 full-timers.

The UK has long been granted an “opt-out” from the directive. But following a recent vote by the European Parliament, this opt-out is due to be scrapped in 2012. It would leave many retained firefighters unable to legally juggle both jobs. Replacing retained firefighters – who earn on average between £5,000 and £8,000 a year for agreeing to be available for up to 120 hours per week – with 24-hour whole-time cover would be extremely expensive, leading to fears the coverage and reliability of the service would suffer.

One Oxfordshire retained firefighter, who asked not to be named, said: “The implications are massive. If you did away with all the retained fire service in Oxfordshire, a vast amount of people would be finished and I think a lot of these smaller part-time stations would have to close.

“The retained system is very cost effective — I think you could probably get two or three retained fire stations for the price of a whole-time station.”

Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael said: “The position of retained firefighters in an excellent example of how the working time directive could have a very severe effect on one of the most important public services. “This is particularly acute in rural areas, but will affect communities the length and breadth of the UK.

“The working time directive would be a threat to the viability of this service, and the provision of firefighters could be fatally undermined."

John Barton, general secretary of the Retained Firefighters’ Union, said: “If we lost this opt-out the retained fire service becomes unviable.”

Employment Minister Pat McFadden said the Government was fighting to keep the UK’s opt-out.

John Parry, the county’s chief fire officer, said: “This will impact on retained firefighters.

“It could mean the need for more retained firefighters and that would put the cost up very significantly because of the training and the kit, and that would really start to become unpracticable.

“So we do need a national solution and Oxfordshire will be lobbying for flexibility.

“The other issue is around driving hours and the amount of rest drivers are meant to have, particularly retained firefighters who drive HGVs in their day jobs and also drive the fire engines. That will really impact on us.”

tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk