A fire station will be left with five full-time firefighters to answer emergency calls in a controversial move which critics say would cost lives.

Shoreham Fire Station will be left with 11 firefighters after 17 are redeployed to other stations.

Five of the remaining full-time staff will be supported by evening duty retained firefighters to cover emergencies while the other six staff would concentrate on promoting fire safety, distributing free smoke detectors and giving people advice on fire prevention.

West Sussex County Council says its policy of having less staff at the station would, contrary to the view of firefighters, help to save lives rather than put people at risk. A council spokesman added: "Fire prevention is better than cure.

"Shoreham station deal with very few fires compared to road accidents and the bulk of the work is during daylight hours.

"Fire prevention is playing a more important role, the philosophy of the service has changed and it is no longer concentrating on property but people."

The council has based its policy on figures which it says show that during the past year Shoreham firefighters only responded to 31 reports of fires inside houses and six of these were between 11pm and 7am. County councillors approved the plans to cut the number of firefighters at the station yesterday.

The proposed changes to the crew will now have to be agreed at a full county council meeting next Friday just over a month after West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service unveiled the plans.

The changes to Shoreham Fire Station in Stoney Lane will mean the number of full-time firefighters falling from 28 to 11, with the remaining crew sent out to stations across Sussex.

The full-time firefighters will work from 8am to 8pm during the week, with a crew of five to deal with emergency calls.

Firefighters say the move to cut staff at the station would cost lives.

Mick Cambers, a Shoreham firefighter and chairman of the Fire Brigade Union's West Sussex branch, said: "Having a retained fire crew to deal with calls in the evening will mean having to respond from home and that will create a fourminute delay."

However, councillors and senior members of the fire and rescue service say Shoreham is the quietest fire station in West Sussex to have 24-hour cover.

The announced changes sparked concerns among local residents who also feared the reduced crews could cost lives.

But Councillor Lionel Barnard, county council cabinet member for Public Protection, said: "These changes are in line with the service's county-wide policy of putting greater emphasis on preventing fires.