THE Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service could not cope on its own, a senior cabinet member has said.

Councillors were divided over plans to merge the Isle of Wight Fire Service with Hampshire at last night’s (Wednesday) full council meeting.

Twenty councillors voted in favour of merging the service with ten against, and one abstention from Independent councillor, Cllr Debbie Andre.

Speaking in favour of the merger, cabinet member for transport Ian Ward said the Isle of Wight needed the technology a merger would bring — and that the Island would be unable to cope without it.

Cllr Ward said: “Saying ‘we should move it all back to the Island’ — we couldn’t afford that. We couldn’t produce the fine service that we have, and it’s because of these technological advances.

“No matter how good our staff are, it’s how quickly they get the message and how quickly they get to the incidents.”

However, Ryde councillor, Cllr Michael Lilley, said: “We are an Island, we do not fit in with mainland services.”

Members also questioned the level of oversight, with concerns raised about how much of a voice the Island would have on the authority’s governing board.

Cabinet member for public protection, Cllr Tig Outlaw — who has overseen the plans — said the Isle of Wight would have 11 voices on the panel overseeing the new authority.

He said: “It will still be our service, it will still be Islanders who are in the fire service. Many of them work in their local communities and they understand it and it will still be our service.

“This is right, it protects the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service and it will give the resilience that we need going forward.”

Cllr Barry Abraham (Conservative) said he hoped the badges issued to firefighters would continue to say the ‘Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service’.

Councillors also discussed the recent inspection report that found the service to be safe, but concerns were raised around staff morale.

Following the vote, the proposals have been recommended for approval at next Thursday’s extraordinary cabinet meeting.

The meeting will be held at 5pm at County Hall on Thursday, January 24.