Out-of-area firefighters from miles away are being picked to tackle emergency situations in a bid to “cut costs”, while other stations do not even have enough people to man local fire engines, it has been claimed.

The extraordinary claim from a former firefighters charity worker comes after it was revealed that Buckinghamshire had seen the second highest drop in firefighter numbers over the last five years.

Roger Mellish, from Loudwater, who worked for the formerly known Firefighters Benevolent Fund – now The Fire Fighters Charity – made the claims after workforce numbers released by the Home Office showed firefighter numbers in Bucks plunged since 2010, with a drop of more than 30 per cent.

At the time Bucks Fire defended the figures, saying they did not reflect the fact that it currently has 20 firefighter apprentices who have almost completed their first year, neither did they take into account that the authority has had no firefighter redundancies.

Spokesman Fraser Pearson said: “Unlike the situation in other parts of the country, during the period in question, we have not closed any fire stations or reduced the number of fire and rescue appliances we have.”

But Mr Mellish said the drop in numbers had come because on-call or “retained” firefighters, who are not employed full-time by the department, were “dropping out like flies”.

He said: “[Bucks Fire] say they haven’t shut down any fire stations but the one at Stokenchurch hasn’t been operational in months because they only have three firefighters there.

“There are numerous firefighters hanging around different stations doing nothing. Quite a few fire engines, which cost thousands of pounds, are just sitting there as well.

“It is a lot of money to be tied up. It’s just cost cutting here in Bucks.”

Responding to this, station commander Nick Honor said: “Four is the minimum number needed to take out a fire engine, and they must include a crew commander or watch commander and a driver. All four must be qualified breathing apparatus wearers.

“If any of these crew members are missing or not available, a fire engine cannot go out, even if there are four firefighters in a station.”

Mr Mellish’s comments were echoed by the Fire Brigades Union, who said government funding cuts were to blame for the drop in numbers.

Richard Jones, regional secretary of the union’s south east branch, said: “Bucks FRS has been hit by government funding cuts over the last few years and the local authority has not made up the difference.

“This has resulted in an underfunded fire and rescue service that is as a direct result, under staffed.

“Fire engines are regularly “off the run” (unable to respond due to a lack of crew). When RDS (retained firefighters) fire engines are off the run, fire engines from further away have to attend and in doing so, they leave their own area with depleted fire and emergency cover.

“A fire station without a crew provides nothing more than a false sense of security.”

Bucks Fire insisted there was money in the budget to recruit more on-call firefighters, however it was having difficulties recruiting.

Mr Honor added: “We are constantly appealing for people to come forward. One of the reasons why these positions are not being filled is because local employers are becoming less able to release staff for these duties because of the economic situation.

“If we had a full complement of on-call firefighters they would definitely be used more.”

Anyone interested in becoming an on-call firefighter, especially at the Amersham, Chesham, Great Missenden or Stokenchurch fire stations, can contact Bucks Fire.