MSP Jackie Baillie has voiced her “disgust” after fire chiefs pushed through a decision to downgrade Helensburgh Fire Station.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service rubber-stamped a move to switch crews at the South King Street base to a ‘Day Crewing’ model.

It means that the station will provide on-call cover only between 6pm and 8am.

The SFRS Board gave the go-ahead to the move as part of the Service Delivery Review decision on Monday.

Dumbarton MSP Jackie has previously backed local firefighters in opposing the move, branding it “dangerous”.

Under the plans, Helensburgh Fire Station will switch from full-time cover to on-call only at evenings and weekends.

It emerged that, of 326 survey responses during the public consultation phase, only 41 were in support.

Instead, responses raised fears over the presence of “high risk” sites, such as Faslane in the community and increased response times.

But the board heard that the “demand does not match the perceived risk” of such sites.

It is estimated that between 12 and 17 firefighter posts will be redeployed in areas such as prevention and training.

MSP Jackie has opposed the plans and called on Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Neil Gray, to shelve them during question time in Holyrood last week.

The politician, who also backed a cross-party letter opposing the changes and mounted her own petition against the move, said: “I am not just disappointed, I am disgusted by these changes.

“It appears that there has been a complete failure to listen to the views of local firefighters.

“This change will increase response times and present an increased risk to our community.

“It appears that the Service Delivery Review is more about cutting budgets than the duty to keep residents and communities safe. Responsibility for this lies at the door of the SNP Government who cynically put off the decision until after the election.

“I cannot help but think that this decision is dangerous.”