Firefighters fear lives could be put at risk by plans cut the number of staff on duty at a fire station.

The number of full-time firefighters at Shoreham could be reduced from 28 to just ten.

The remaining staff will be expected to cover peak call-out times with retained firemen crewing the station at other times.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said no jobs would be lost when it revealed its plans yesterday.

It said staff based at Shoreham would be found new positions within the fire service.

A spokesmen said the move would release more officers to carry out fire safety and prevention work.

It is hoped this would lead to a reduction in the number of urgent calls Shoreham has to deal with.

But Fire Brigades Union representatives believe delays in getting retained firefighters to calls may prove tragic.

Mick Camber, FBU representative at Shoreham, said: "Our retained crew are excellent at their job and we have no problems with that.

"However, they are all supposed to live within four minutes of the station and that time is valuable.

"We had a fire in Shoreham the other week in which neighbours helped to rescue a family from their house.

"We were there within a minute of receiving the call and rescued a one-year-old child from the building.

"If there had been a delay of four minutes the outcome could have been very different."

Mr Camber said the cuts could also have an impact on the cover provided for people living in Brighton and Hove and other parts of Sussex.

Shoreham is often called on to provide back-up and extra manpower and machinery for major incidents.

The cuts will go out to consultation for 28 days but are expected to be in place in January.

Martin Burrell, the chief fire officer for West Sussex, said: "Shoreham's call-out rate continues to go down and is much lower than Littlehampton, which is staffed entirely by retained firefighters."

Lionel Barnard, West Sussex County Council cabinet member for public protection, said: "Under the arrangements we will see Shoreham fire station geared to meeting 21st Century needs."