Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is offering to help maintain the welfare of staff from West Midlands Ambulance Service following the introduction of their new operational model.
Ambulance bases in Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Craven Arms and Market Drayton will close next week.
The Service is offering the use of the fire station facilities for ambulance workers whilst on shift. It said they will allow all fire stations to be available for ambulance staff to use as rest stops or as alternative venues for standdown periods should they need them.
Eric Carter, Chair of Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority said: "We are delighted to be offering the hand of friendship to our emergency service colleagues in order to help them sustain their welfare through their working hours.
“This is not a property-sharing agreement in the formal sense, and our stations are not serving as the replacement for the now decommissioned ambulance stations. However, having access to our facilities will give the ambulance staff an additional welfare if necessary whilst they are on duty.
“It is a central part of our service delivery to support our partners in any way we can and we’re happy to be able to show our support to our colleagues in the ambulance service in this way."
In response a spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "This press release came as a surprise to us, as there is currently no agreement in place with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service for ambulance crews to use their facilities."
"Information in the press release is also incorrect, as we have not introduced a new operational model and the four CAS sites in the county have not yet closed."
"Our crews rarely, if ever, get time between jobs so we aren’t actually sure how this offer would work in practice."
"Even if there was an agreement to use their premises, there has been no work between operational colleagues so we have no information as to how our crews would access their retained stations."
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