The fire brigade has defended its decision to ask organisations to pay up when firefighters are called out for non-emergency tasks.

Castle Point Council has written a letter to the Chief Fire Officer of the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service expressing the authority's strong disapproval of the proposal.

The cash-strapped service has sent out a 'Memorandum of Understanding' saying it wants to start charging to help reclaim some of the cost of being called out to jobs like clearance operations after road accidents, chemical spillages and other non-emergency tasks such as the flooding of commercial premises or gaining entry to premises.

The memo says: "While accepting the organisation responsible for the location at which the incident occurs may not and will not in most cases be the party responsible for the actions which incurred the attendance and service provided by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, it is the statutory duties of those organisations to maintain the locations under their care."

The idea was criticised by councillors, who agreed the local authority should express its strong reservations over the idea and say they are unable to accept the proposal.

A spokesman for the fire authority said: "There is a proposal that has been sent to all the local authorities about charging for non-emergency services.

"The busier we get the more these things encroach on our time and our resources, so we have decided to try to recoup the costs."

The move would see the council having to pay for incidents that happen on public property, while private homeowners could also find themselves being hit with bills.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.