The Fire Brigade Union has warned cuts in resources are putting public safety at risk, as new statistics reveal the number of fires in south-east London has increased by 17 per cent.

Figures released by London Fire Brigade (LFB) show the number of people killed in blazes across the capital has also increased by 20 per cent.

Compared to last year the number of fatal fires started deliberately has more than tripled.

In south-east London Bexley borough had the lowest number of fires in 2015-16 with 669, an increase of 129 on the previous year.

Firefighters were called to tackle 727 blazes in Greenwich, an increase of 87, and in neighbouring Lewisham the figure was 702, a rise of 64.

In Bromley, London’s largest borough, firefighters saw the biggest increase with 165 more fires than the year before, bringing the total to 923.

The number of people killed by fires across London has increased by 20 per cent and those started deliberately jumped from three in 2014-15 to 11 the following year.

Paul Embery, regional secretary for the Fire Brigade Union in London, put the increase in fires down to the cut in funding and the closure of stations across the capital.

Both Woolwich and Downham fire stations were closed in January 2014 under the then Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s Fifth London Safety Plan.

Mr Embery told News Shopper: “Our position is very simply that the huge cuts that have taken place in the London Fire Brigade in the last couple of years have impacted on public safety.

“There’s been a number of deaths recently in fires where the fire engines weren’t able to meet the target response time.

“We have got fewer resources, it’s putting the service under great strain that is unquestionably, in our view, leading to people dying.”

LFB said half of people killed by fire last year were over 70 years old, two thirds lived alone and more than 12 fatal blazes were caused by smoking.

London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson commended firefighters for their “incredible hard work” in carrying out almost 87,000 home safety visits, which he said is responsible for the decrease in the number of blazes and fire deaths over five years.

News Shopper:

London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson praised the city's firefighters.

He said: "However, last year's increase in the total number of people who died as a result of fire shows that we must never become complacent.

"Far too many old and vulnerable people are dying unnecessarily in avoidable fires either because they have mobility issues and may struggle to raise the alarm or their home lacks appropriate fire detection.”

A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: “The number of fires we attend car vary year on year but if we look over five years in south-east London (Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham) fires have come down by 22 per cent with Greenwich having a fantastic reduction of 40 per cent.”