MORE than 170 residents crammed into Porlock Village Hall at the launch of an action plan to save the village’s award-winning fire station from closure.

The emergency meeting was called after Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service revealed that Porlock was among eight fire stations which could be closed in a bid to cut operating costs by millions of pounds.

The closures are one of six options which will go before the authority’s committee today (Friday).

Monday’s village meeting approved an action plan aimed at fighting off any decision to close the eight-man fire station.

A steering committee will mastermind press, poster and social media campaigns, petitions and communication with national and local government.

Porlock district councillor Andrew Milne told the meeting: “Porlock is a special case. We have one of the oldest populations and the fire station is a vital part of the community.

“Losing our fire and rescue cover will increase the risk to the 60 per cent of our population who are over 60 and to the 275 people in the village who have mobility issues.

“This is a matter of great concern to us all and we have got to make our voices heard. We will be competing with seven other communities which risk losing their fire stations and we must make more fuss than anyone else!”

The meeting was told that the fire authority had assessed Porlock as being in a low-risk area for fires and traffic accidents, could be served by other stations within 15 minutes and only attended a small number of incidents each year.

But residents claimed that Porlock was a key station to deal with the area’s moorland fires, which were said to be increasing due to climate change.

It was also the nearest station to deal with accidents and incidents on Porlock Hill, and had specialist equipment for rugged terrain.

There was concern that closure of the fire station would mean that the area would lose its first responder service.

Residents also felt the estimate that Minehead firefighters could reach Porlock in 15 minutes was unrealistic and that large areas of Exmoor could be up to 20 miles away from the nearest fire station.

Full reports are in today’s Free Press.