Firefighters may take strike action if proposals for the reorganisation of Lancashire's fire service go through at a crunch meeting in Chorley later this month.

Union bosses are fighting the cost-cutting plans for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, which, if they go ahead, will see fire engine crews reduced.

They claim the eyes of the country are on Lancashire, with other brigades awaiting the reaction of one of the UK's major fire services.

Lancashire Combined Fire Authority meets at Washington Hall fire training centre, Euxton, on Monday, December 19, at 10am.

It will decide whether to cut the number of firefighters on 63 appliances in the county from five to four, saving £1.5m a year.

Plans include moving officers from front line duties to fire safety and prevention promotional work.

Chorley Fire Station is already set to lose its Incident Support Unit which is used for major incidents, including road traffic accidents and chemical spillages.

Steve Harman, Lancashire secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: "They are slowly trying to reduce the effectiveness of the operational side of the fire service. With five firefighters, for a house fire that requires rescue, you can just about function, working within the Home Office accepted practices.

"In future we may be forced to take shortcuts to effect rescues."

He said firefighters may have to wait outside blazing buildings until more colleagues arrived.

Lancashire chief fire officer Peter Holland said: "The proposal will free up resources for fire prevention work, such as Home Fire Check visits, to ensure more people either do not suffer a fire in the home, or if a fire starts, have a working smoke detector and respond appropriately to it."