A FIRE station which serves Bury as well as Bolton is to be closed under controversial costcutting proposals.

Bolton North Fire Station in Crompton Way, is to be shut under plans to save £12.8 million over the next three years.

The plans comes after the number of fire engines in Bury and Whitefield Fire Stations were cut a number of years ago.

Across Greater Manchester the numbers of firefighters manning a fire engine will also be cut to four.

Under the current system, there are often five crew members on the first engine to arrive at an incident.

Bolton Central Fire Station would be close, and a new one built replacing that and Bolton North, the location of which has not been revealed.

Manchester Central in Thompson Street and Philips Park station would also close, with a new one being built to replace them, and similarly with Stockport and Whitehill.

It follows a root and branch review of the brigade which was ordered by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.

During a press conference the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) pledged that its proposals will only have a 10-second impact on response time.

Chief fire officer Jim Wallace said: "I think the timing was absolutely right to take a look at what was going on.Many of these proposed changes have already been implemented across the country.

"This will put us in a position where we can continue to keep people safe, but also ensure that we are a sustainable, efficient service.

A public consultation will be launched after the review is published today.

The programme of change outlines a number of proposals "to put the fire service back on the right footing", according to the Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

The proposals will go out to public consultation before a final decision is made. To find out more visit https://manchesterfire.gov.uk/programme-for-change/