THE Mayor of London’s £29m cost-cutting plans to close fire stations including Woolwich and Downham were rejected last night by London’s fire authority.

Hundreds of firefighters protested outside the meeting – where London’s Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) voted against axing 10 fire stations and the loss of 552 firefighter jobs across the capital.

But Boris Johnson has the power to override the authority’s decision on the revised plan – which spared two fire stations initially earmarked for closure including New Cross.

London Assembly member and Brockley councillor Darren Johnson AM said: “The fire authority’s decision to reject this completely unnecessary fire cuts package sends a clear message to the Mayor of London – re-assess your budget priorities and halt these dangerous proposals now.

“Through the public consultation, Londoners made it very clear that, rather than getting a trifling 7p-per-week council tax cut, they want their life-saving public services to remain intact. Government cuts are harsh but the Mayor is making a bad situation worse by insisting on council tax cuts too.

“If these closures go ahead more than half of London’s households will fall outside target response times and that is a scenario both Londoners and the fire authority reject totally.”

The revised plan comes after two public consultations with recommendations made by London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson.

Speaking of the changes, Mr Dobson said the number of fires had halved in the last ten years, that London response times would remain amongst the best of the UK's emergency services, and preventative work for fires would be a key focus.