FIRE service chiefs have withdrawn their plans to enforce a new 12-hour shift system that critics feared would have led to mass firefighter dismissals.

Staff from Leigh, Atherton and Hindley stations are among the thousands of firefighters who could have been made to agree to work 12-hour shifts or face losing their jobs as part of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service’s initial proposals to try to adhere to the Government's demand for it to make further cuts of £14.8 million over four years.

More than 20,000 people signed a petition against the proposals, which were set to be implemented in April, and GMFRS has now agreed to have talks with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to try to come up with a better solution.

A spokesman for the FBU, which claims to have an estimated 95 per cent of all firefighters in Greater Manchester as members, said: "We welcome GMFRS' announcement that it is not now planning to sack its 1,250-strong firefighter workforce.

"The service withdrew its plans to issue section 188 notices [of the Trade Union Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992] that would have terminated the firefighters’ contracts of employment – only those who agreed to the new 12-hour shift patterns would have been re-employed."

The talks between the FBU and GMFRS will begin on Thursday.

Matt Wrack, the FBU's general secretary, said: “This is a very welcome move that will allow both parties to engage in discussions about the detail of the proposals to implement the planned cuts to the service’s budget without the threat of action by either party.

"The FBU has confirmed that it will participate fully in talks facilitated through the independent Technical Advisory Panel (TAP), with both parties engaging constructively in discussions to ensure the safety of the public.”

The FBU says it acknowledges that GMFRS' proposals were the result of continuing cut demands from the Government.

The latest cuts follow GMFRS already having had to save £28 million, according to the FBU.

And the FBU says that lives are at risk, claiming that ‘figures released by GMFRS show an increase of 140 per cent in all rescues over the past 12 months, alongside an extremely worrying threefold increase in fire deaths’ and that ‘firefighters in the region are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of repeated cuts on public safety’.