Fire station to be closed
A Black Country fire station is to close, it was decided this afternoon - despite thousands of people calling for it to stay open.
Sedgley fire station is to close, it was decided this afternoon - despite thousands of people calling for it to stay open.
Campaigners who raised a 12,000-name petition demanding that the station should be saved say today's decision will put lives at risk.
The closure was confirmed following a split vote of the Fire Authority executive's eight-man panel today. Its chairman, Birmingham councillor Peter Howard, cast the deciding vote.
The ruling is expected to be agreed at a full meeting of the Fire Authority next month.
Campaigner Rachel Spittle, aged 30, of Furlongs Road, Sedgley, this afternoon described the verdict as "devastating".
West Midlands Fire Brigade Union (FBU) representative Chris Downes said: "It's extremely disappointing they haven't listened to the public."
The fire service announced in August it wanted to close the part-time station, saying adequate cover could be provided by other stations.
West Midlands Fire Service area commander Bob Deeks said: "We don't celebrate this decision but it's about providing a service for the whole of the West Midlands."
The fire station has been shut since last June when all eight of the crew were sacked for gross misconduct, the details of which have never been revealed.
Seven firefighters were reinstated and are now in training.
By Mark Mudie and Chris Moriarty
