THE Devon and Somerset Fire Authority confirmed last Friday that Porlock’s fire station will not be closed.

Along with five other stations, it escaped the axe which had been hanging over it since last summer when proposals for major changes to the fire service were announced.

In the wake of strong public reaction, those proposals were scaled down considerably when the authority met at its headquarters at Clyst St George to decide how to save cash but also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the service.

Along with Porlock, fire stations at Appledore, Ashburton, Colyton, Kingston, and Woolacombe have had the immediate threat of closure removed, but after four hours of discussion, members voted to go ahead with closing those at Budleigh Salterton and Topsham.

The authority also agreed that Barnstaple, Exmouth and Paignton stations will continue to be crewed around the clock, subject to a revised crewing model being agreed with the Fire Brigades Union.

And several stations including Williton, where it was planned to only crew their second engine at night, will now see risk-based availability introduced in the daytime.

There was also relief for Lynton, which instead of losing its second appliance altogether will see it replaced by a new wildfire 4-x4.

Recommendations to the authority would have seen the third fire engines at Bridgwater, Taunton, Torquay and Yeovil stations removed, but an 11th hour reprieve will now see them replaced with an “alternative vehicle” with smaller firefighting capabilities.