MP in last-minute bid for fire station

Dudley North MP Ian Austin has launched a last-minute bid to save a closed fire station from being sold off for housing.

He is urging West Midlands Fire Service, which has put Sedgley Fire Station on the market, to make the building available for community use such as a youth centre.

The base in Tipton Road, Sedgley, closed in November 2008 despite a campaign to save it, which included a 12,000-name petition. Last month, plans to build eight homes on the site were submitted by West Midlands Fire Service and approved by Dudley Council.

Fire chiefs have now instructed Bigwood Chartered Surveyors to sell the site and the closing day for sealed offers is mid-day on Wednesday.

But Mr Austin is calling on the the West Midlands Fire Authority to drop its plans to sell the site and consider alternative uses for the site that would benefit residents in Sedgley.