UP to 22 firefighter jobs could be axed if plans to cut services in one of Europe’s highest industrial risk areas are approved.

Moves to cut crews and one fire engine at Billingham Fire Station, near Stockton, have angered union officials, who say the cuts will have a knock-on effect on other stations.

The fire station is at the heart of Teesside’s petro-chemical industry and the area has 37 of the highest accident hazard sites, known as top-tier Comah (Control of Major Accident Hazard) sites.

There are fuel storage facilities in the vicinity of Billingham Fire Station, with a capacity 100 times greater than the largest storage tank at Buncefield oil storage terminal in Hertfordshire.

Cleveland Fire Brigade plans to cut one fire engine, reducing the station to a one-pump station, with the loss of 22 firefighting posts.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) says the cuts will mean that firefighters will take longer to respond to 999 emergencies and a worse service for the people of Teesside.

The union also said the cuts will have a knock-on effect in surrounding areas, which rely on crews in Billingham for back-up during emergencies.

Steve Watson, Cleveland FBU secretary, said: “These industries in this area pay national and local taxes and one of the services they get as a business is the fire service.

“It is one of the most important services for large and small businesses.

“There have been major incidents in this area. If you can justify cuts in one of the highest risk industrial areas in the whole of Western Europe, then nowhere is safe from cuts.

“Cutting a fire engine and firefighters means spreading resources more thinly and that means taking longer to get to 999 incidents.

“It does have an effect on community safety and on how we respond to industrial incidents.

“It is absurd to claim that cuts in this high-risk area can be described by the authority as ‘leading the way in industrial firefighting’.

These are not efficiency gains, these cuts are very real.”

A spokesman for Cleveland Fire Brigade said: “We are in consultation at this time. It is something that is on the cards, but no decisions have been made.”

The public consultation period runs until November 3.