Liberal Democrats have questioned fire service officials about the levels of sickness in the fire service.

Chris White, who leads for the fire service, said: ‘It is remarkable that there has been a surge in the days lost through sickness in the fire and rescue service. Some of this can be explained by one or two instances of long term sickness but much of the rest is a mystery.

‘The problem is particularly acute amongst non-uniformed staff: in 2008-2009 there were 847 days lost through sickness absence, a 34% increase over the previous year. This is about 8 days per staff member per year.

‘Nearly all measures – uniformed and non-uniformed – see a rise: one shows an increase of 148%.’