A FORMER firefighter has accused the county council of playing Russian Roulette in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Tony Morris - from West Sussex Fire and Rescue Stop the Cuts - made the claim after a West Sussex County Council meeting on Friday.

Mr Morris claims it was decided that only one fire engine and four firefighters would be sent initially to any high-rise building fire in West Sussex if the blaze was detected automatically.

The one exception is Fitzleet House in Bognor Regis.

He said: “It is astonishing that if concerned relatives have paid for an automatic alarm to protect a vulnerable relative only one fire engine will be sent when that alarm detects a fire.

“That significantly increases the time it will take to get the full response there and puts the public and firefighters in greater danger.

“By contrast the response for calls received from someone who says they believe there is a fire or can smell smoke will be six fire engines, an aerial ladder platform and a command vehicle.

“I was pleased to learn that after the Grenfell Tower tragedy West Sussex increased the response from four to six fire engines but shocked that this did not apply to calls triggered by automatic detection.

“This is the county council playing Russian roulette and gambling it will be a false alarm even though many fires are picked up by automatic detection.”

The county council says inspections are carried out to all high-rise properties to identify risks to firefighters in the event of a fire.

A spokesman said: “The residential high-rise buildings in West Sussex are located in areas of concentrated population and served by whole time or day crewed stations. The majority are in Worthing.

“Of the five example high-rise buildings assessed, six fire engines are modelled as all being on scene in 24 minutes or less.”

The county council says six fire engines would be on scene in less than 32 minutes.

A spokesman added: “To date, all 54 residential high-rise buildings that have been identified have received a preliminary inspection with no serious issues identified.”