THE chairman of Notts Fire Authority has accused fellow members of having "neither the guts nor the courage" to fight against massive Government cuts to the fire service's budget.
Darrell Pulk, a Labour councillor, was speaking at a tense debate at a meeting of the authority yesterday, called to decide the fire service's share of council tax bills next year.
He said Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors who sit on the authority should have lobbied the Government in a bid to prevent a cut to Notts Fire Service's budget of �6.5m over four years – one of the highest in the country.
"I am angry and disappointed certain members of this authority neither had the guts nor courage to lobby their party over these cuts," he said.
Mr Pulk claimed they had failed to put party politics aside for the good of the fire service.
Lib Dem Councillor Jason Zadrozny said: "How dare you say that? You have abused your position as chairman, we have made every effort to work with you and you have not listened."
The authority had been asked to approve a 3.5% rise in its share of the council tax next year, but it decided to freeze bills and take �500,000 from its �7m savings to cover the shortfall, following an amendment proposed by Mr Zadrozny.
The authority will set up a working party to review whether four fire stations need to close.
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