News

A PLAN to knock down Barnsley fire station and rebuild it across the road has been criticised by union officials.

The Fire Authority is considering relocating the station to the old Kingstone School site as it would provide better access to Broadway.

Fire authority chairman Coun Jim Andrews said: "The building is an old building, it's on a rather large site, if you look at it we have to turn left out the doors and up the hill and onto the road.

"It would be a better site for fire-fighters to work from."

He said he did not know what the project would cost but said some of the money would be recuperated through sustainable features of the building like better heating and lighting.

But Fire Brigades Union secretary John Gilliver said the authority money should not be spent on new buildings when Royston was closing in December.

"It's like they are flaunting it in our faces that they are building new buildings when they are shutting stations like Royston, taking away fire engines and allowing the continued reduction of fire-fighters.

"At times like these, where money's tight, it is ridiculous. It just shows they are more interested in property management than they are in fire-fighters and fire engines."