BOSS of Greater Manchester Fire Service said the brigade was facing difficult decisions.Chief Fire Officer Jim Wallace, said: “These proposals will ensure that GMFRS is sustainable and efficient, that we are making the most of the resources we have, but also still have some of the fastest response times in the country.

“By 2020 we need to make efficiency savings of £12.8million and these proposals will help us to meet this.There are difficult decisions to make, but we need to make them to ensure that we are fit for the future and to serve the communities of Greater Manchester.

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 “We need to change the way we do things and these proposals will help us maximise fire cover across Greater Manchester within available resources and integrate within place-based teams to put our firefighters at the heart of the communities they serve. 

“The proposed merger of Bolton North and Bolton Central fire stations would allow us to open a brand new state-of-the-art building, in the right place to respond to incidents, but also equipped with the facilities our communities and firefighters need and to allow us to work closely with our partners. 

“The plans are currently subject to public consultationand no formal decisions have been made. I would urge anyone who wants to have their say to go to www.gmconsult.org.”