DURHAM will lose one of its three fire crews under proposals to boost cover in Spennymoor.

The county's brigade says the move could improve response times to some of the area's outlying villages.

The brigade wants to replace the fire stations at Spennymoor and Bishop Auckland with new ones built under the controversial Private Finance Initiative.

Spennymoor is currently manned by two part-time - or retained - crews, one of which would be replaced by a full-time crew of 28 firefighters on four watches if the proposals win approval.

One of the crews would be scrapped but the brigade says the reduction would be through 'natural wastage.'

Allan Wood, the brigade's special projects area manager, said Durham had three fire engines to meet the criteria of old national standards that were scrapped, giving brigades more flexibility about where to station crews.

"The emphasis used to be on protecting property but now it is on saving lives."

The proposal was based on risk assessments and analysis of incidents and a full time crew at Spennymoor would 'significantly improve' cover in the area and give quicker response times to incidents.

While people in the Durham area might think they would get a worse service, the move to Spennymoor could mean firefighters reaching fires in villages such as Bowburn, Coxhoe and Brandon faster.

He added that the plan would enable the brigade to do more fire prevention work, such as fitting smoke alarms, and bring Durham's crewing into line with other stations in the county.

"We don't class it as a worse service. We think it is a more appropriate service based on identified risk."

Mr Wood said he was disappointed nobody attended public consultation meetings on the proposals.

Durham County Council deputy leader Don Ross, who represents Framwellgate Moor, said: "I'm confident it will not increase any risk in any way.

"And I am confident that it will improve the service delivery to an area where we are getting an increase in demand and that has a retained service."

But Weardale Independent county councillor John Shuttleworth said: "It is jeopardising the lives of the people in Durham."