Shropshire’s cash-strapped fire and rescue service is being stretched to the limit and would be unable to cope with three emergencies at the same time without calling in off-duty staff, bosses said today.

Paul Raymond, the county’s chief fire officer, said because of multi-million pound budget cutbacks there were just 23 incident commanders available to manage crews across the county.

That compares to an average of 64 top officers at other fire authorities in the country.

As a result Shropshire firefighters could only deal with two emergencies - such as a factory fire and a house blaze - at the same time.

They would be unable to deal with a third without relying off-duty staff, who may already have worked a full shift.

Mr Raymond said the service was ‘at the bare minimum’.

He said although the authority could manage on a day-to-day basis, concerns came when major events like the flooding which hit south Shropshire.

Six officers were on the duty roster during the flooding, but three off-duty officers had to be called in when 50 calls came in on a single night.

It meant more pressure was being put on a smaller number of staff.

The matter was brought to the attention of the Shropshire and Wrekin Fire and Rescue Authority last week.

David Minnery, the authority’s vice chairman, said he feared the drop in officer numbers had gone ‘a shade too far’. We’re clearly in a position where people are being stretched – and overstretched in my view,” he said.

Members agreed that Mal Price, a Shropshire councillor and former firefighter, would lead a group to see what could be done to raise the number of incident commanders.

Stuart West, chairman of the authority, said he believed some success had come from talks with the Bob Neill, the fire minister, and he would continue to press for more money.