The London Assembly Member for Harrow has called for Boris Johnson to reconsider fire station closures.

Navin Shah AM has spoken out following the Mayor of London’s instruction yesterday that cuts must be implemented.

Mr Shah, Labour's London Assembly fire spokesman, said: “Boris is trying to hide behind his fire officers; he needs to take responsibility for his cuts.

“These changes are driven by budget cuts, not improvements to the fire service."

Mr Shah said the mayor needed to look at reallocating resources from the wider Greater London Authority budget.

He added: “The London Fire Brigade and all of their dedicated staff do a fantastic job keeping us safe and helping us when we need it most.

“He is cutting too far and too fast, hitting the frontline and fundamentally undermining the ability of the fire brigade to do their job.”

The London Fire Brigade’s budget is to be cut by £45 over the next two years, with the proposed closure of 12 fire stations and loss of 18 fire engines and 520 firefighters, but Harrow will lose no fire stations and Stanmore fire station will gain a fire engine.