SCOTLAND faces a “firestorm” because cuts to the country’s fire service have increased the time it takes to reach life-threatening fires and stopped the recruiting and training of new firefighters.

A Fire Brigades Union (FBU) report says that 1,200 firefighters’ jobs have been axed and another 780 are at risk in the next five years.

This is because Scottish Fire and Rescue Service funding has been “flatlined,” meaning that the amount of money allocated remains the same each year while inflation eats away at its real value, according to the report.