THE number of fire engines serving the county is often "below minimum", a report shows.

An inspection of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service has found there are often fewer engines available than the minimum requirement.

On occasion, data shows there are only 41 engines available - well below the minimum of 52.

The inspection was carried out by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.

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Two out of three categories - efficiency and people - were rated 'requires improvement'. Effectiveness was rated 'good'.

But the fire service union claims "fire and rescue performance is declining rapidly" due to cuts.

The report highlights that workforce has dropped by 10.4 per cent in the last five years.

This is significantly more than the England average of just over one per cent.

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Dave Hunt, Fire Brigades Union official in Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service, said: "Firefighters will all tell you the same thing: cuts to resources mean that fire and rescue performance is declining rapidly.

"Firefighters and firefighters in our control rooms do the best job they can do each and every day, but with less firefighters it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain public safety.

"There has been a drop of 10.4 per cent in the workforce over a five-year period and quite clearly as evidenced in the report that this is impacting on response times and the availability of fire engines across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

"It is of great concern to our members and will be to the public that the services minimum level of fire engine is set at 52 and the reports states this is rarely achieved.

"We are aware that at times including today when the report has been published that there are only 41 fire engines available, well short of the services own minimum standard.

"We will continue to review the document and provide an in depth response and review to the report once we have discussed through our structures of the Union."

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Inspectors said that the service's overall efficiency at keeping people safe and secure "hasn’t improved".

But they added that the service "has the skills it needs to manage change".

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service has been contacted for a response.