Horley fire station, which is currently run by the West Sussex FRS, is to be taken over by Surrey FRS from April next year.

WSFRS has to save £2.5m from its budget next year and had initially planned to move Horley's engine and crew to Horsham before Surrey stepped in.

Kay Hammond, Surrey County Council's cabinet member for community safety, said she was confident residents would see no change in fire provision.

"We will have a fire appliance down there to keep Horley residents safe," she said.

"We are absolutely confident because we have a plan in place already - a public safety plan - which has committed response standards and we are absolutely committed to that."

WSFRS took the decision to move its fire appliance and crews from Horley to merge with colleagues at Horsham following a public consultation in July.

Horley fire station is located just within the West Sussex county border although the majority of the calls it received in 2011-12 were into Surrey.

Ms Hammond added: "It [Horley] used to be in Surrey anyway - it's only boundary changes that changed it.

"We've had a very, very good deal from West Sussex for many years with them supporting Surrey over the border," she said.

West Sussex say the fire engine at Horley will be relocated to Horsham to "improve the fire service's response in the north and central areas of West Sussex".

The West Sussex FRS Technical Rescue Unit, whose team members respond to incidents in the UK or overseas, will still be based at Horley.

Posted 08/11/2012 by richard.hook@pavpub.com