Concerns have been raised over Epsom’s remaining fire engine which was taken out of use earlier this month as its firefighters were sent elsewhere to tackle blazes.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) blamed staff shortages and cuts, but a Surrey Fire and Rescue spokesman insisted resources were redistributed that day and Epsom still had fire cover.

In November one of the town’s two fire engines relocated to Banstead - the move increased response times here but reduced them in other areas.

On Friday, April 17, Richard Jones, brigade secretary at Surrey FBU, said: "Epsom are off run today due to lack of crew. The fire engine is at the fire station but there is nobody there to crew it due to lack of staff.

"I think it’s bad. Clearly it means if anything happens in Epsom they are going to have to wait longer for a fire engine to come from further afield."

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A fire engine seen through the window of Epsom fire station on Friday, April 17 

He said it was not an "uncommon occurrence" within the fire service at the moment, adding: "It’s all due to the cuts imposed on us."

But a Surrey Fire and Rescue spokesman said firefighters were just moved around to deal with a large number of fires that day and there was still fire cover for Epsom.

On Friday, April 17, Surrey’s fire crews tackled a heathland fire in Pirbright. From 7am to 10am the Epsom fire engine helped to tackle a large fire at Cobham services on the M25.

After that the spokesman said: "There was some kind of issue about the number of people. The entire crew from Epsom got broken up and put into different fire engines and vehicles.

"The fire engine that lives at Epsom fire station was parked up at Epsom fire station. At the same time you had crews from other part of the county at Epsom at times.

"It was a case of everyone was moved around a bit. Whatever happens if you call 999 you will get a fire engine if you need one."