unty council leader Keith Mitchell’s letter (Oxford Mail, February 18) about the fire service cuts.

I know that all firefighters, whether whole-time or retained, are committed, brave individuals who are prepared to put their lives on the line for us, the public, in our time of need.

It is totally unacceptable for Mr Mitchell to imply that the full-time firefighters only care about these shift changes because of the impact on their part-time work. Many of them have no part-time work.

The concerns over fire cover have been justly raised over cuts that may, and I quote Mr Mitchell here, “make response times marginally slower”.

If you are stuck in a burning building or trapped in a car after an accident, a marginally slower response time could cost you your life.

You are entitled to your comments Mr Mitchell, but don’t try to make the public go against our firefighters. Every one of them, retained and whole-time, deserves our respect and thanks.

Caroline Henney, Delbush Avenue, Sandhills, Oxford