Marlborough and Corsham to lose fire engines after cuts

The fire service has announced that as of April 2025, fire engines will be removed from Marlborough and Corsham in Wiltshire, and Sturminster Newton and Wareham in Dorset, leaving these four stations with only one fire engine each.

Poole Fire Station will also lose one of its three engines, leaving it with just two.

The cuts come after the fire service admits it is facing “significant financial challenges”.

But the decision has created some concern among communities.

If a large fire which required multiple appliances were to break out in one of these towns, firefighters would need to call on other nearby towns for help.

The service will cut down on five fire engines in total (Image: Getty)

“We used to have a society that paid for and got the services to maintain high standards in the community,” said one Marlborough local, taking to social media.

“Now standards and services that are the lifeblood of communities across the nation are being continually eroded.”

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service say this decision has not been taken lightly and comes after detailed data analysis of seven on-call stations.

Three more stations (Sherborne, Portland and Wimborne) are also earmarked to lose fire engines in the future too depending on a financial review in January 2025.

A spokesperson for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service said: “As with many public sector organisations, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service are facing significant financial challenges, and we have a programme of work in place to make sure we are sustainable for the future.

Corsham Fire Station is one of five being affected (Image: Google Maps)

“Following a comprehensive fire cover review, we are looking at the position, the number and type of our resources to make sure they are in the right place based on community needs.

“Whilst the data suggests that the removal of some fire engines is the right thing to do, this is also a programme of work that includes some reinvestment and will enable us to improve fire cover by increasing the number of whole-time firefighter posts at Westlea Fire Station and upgrading Amesbury and Dorchester stations from on-call only to on-call and whole-time.

“These decisions are made under the delegation of the Chief Fire Officer and all changes will take effect by April 2025.”