Nuneaton’s voice in parliament has provided a mixed response to the current consultation on the future of fire and rescue services in Warwickshire.

Marcus has recently responded to the consultation put forward to Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service and also met with the Chief Fire Officer, Andy Hickmott and portfolio holder Les Caborn to discuss the proposed changes.

The local MP has supported the idea of reducing the response time of fire and rescue services in the North of Warwickshire which will benefit the people that he represents in Hartshill, Arley and Whitacre.

He has however raised serious concerns over the idea of reducing cover for Nuneaton to just one crewed appliance. He believes that as new development takes place the demands on fire and rescue services in Nuneaton will increase and going down to one appliance is the wrong thing to do.

Commenting on his response to the consultation Marcus said, “Over a number of years Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service have done a magnificent job and we have seen a year on year decrease in serious fires, and we should pay tribute to our brave fire men and women. I welcome that our fire chiefs are looking to try and improve response times to the more rural areas that I represent.

"That said, we need to look at the whole picture and the range of fire and rescue services that our firefighters provide. With our very urban area, which is likely to expand, I think it would pose a real risk to go to one appliance in Nuneaton.

"Through the consultation I have urged that this is looked at again so that we can retain two appliances at Nuneaton and I hope that everything will be done to achieve this, recognising the financial restraints that our fire service faces.”