Malvern will keep both its fire engines - for the next two years at least.

A resource review launched by Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority in December recommended the removal of eight on-call fire engines from stations across the two counties.

But following an eight-week consultation, the authority said Malvern’s ‘second’ engine can stay “subject to a further review in two years’ time based upon the usage and availability over that period”.

At a fire authority meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Tom Wells said he was “pleased to see the retaining of the second fire engine at Malvern”.

Fire authority members agreed to hold further public consultation should plans to remove either of Malvern’s fire engines come back in the future.

Across Worcestershire and Herefordshire, seven other fire engines will be cut and 45 on-call firefighters will be laid off.

Chief fire officer Jon Pryce said the consultation had shown “there are no real alternatives”.

“There is an acceptance we do need to change,” he said. “The on-call system is getting harder. Carrying on as we are is not a viable option.

“84 percent of everything we do only requires one fire engine.”

Fire engines are being cut at Worcester, Droitwich, Wyre Forest, Redditch, Hereford, Bromyard and Leominster Stations, while another engine at Wyre Forest Station will be crewed at night-time only.

Cllr Dan Boatright-Greene said the proposals had been “very difficult to get people on side with” and raised concerns about cutting fire engines when a new town would soon be built on the outskirts of Worcester.

Neil Bevan, brigade secretary for the Fire Brigades Union, said: “There was no mention in the meeting of redundancies.”

He added: “The consultation documents changed several times during the consultation period so how can you compare responses?

“They got the opinions of 0.14 percent of the local population. That’s not what I’d call a robust consultation.”

Cllr Wells had previously said the loss of a fire engine would “strip the fire and rescue cover in Malvern to the bone”.

In December, then-mayor Clive Hooper said the removal of a fire engines would have “worrying implications” for the town.