David Ruffley MP congratulated Conservatives in Parliament who extracted a guarantee from the Government that retained (part-time) fire-fighters would not lose their jobs in the Government's fire service modernisation review. This means that the 352 retained fire fighters across Suffolk will not face the threat of job cuts.

Commenting on this, David Ruffley said: 'We are delighted to have obtained a guarantee that retained fire fighters, who do a superb job, will not suffer as a result of the modernisation of the fire service. We owe so much to them, without whose service and dedication we could not guarantee the safety of the public.

'Along with the military, the retained fire fighters have proved the real heroes during this fire strike, and we are delighted that they will not be punished for their conscientious public service.'

David Ruffley, who had a two hour meeting last Friday with full time firefighters at Bury St Edmunds, said: 'The Government must now come clean and spell out exactly its agenda for the 247 full-time fire-fighters and 24 control room staff across Suffolk as part of the Government's modernisation of working practices. It is vital that we implement the judgments of Chief Fire Officers after risk-based assessments on what's best for fire safety, and that the Government does not simply focus on crude cost-cutting measures like axing jobs. That was the message from my visit to the Bury St Edmunds station last Friday.'