Fire station finally opens – six months behind schedule

AFTER being delayed by legal issues and protracted negotiations, a new fire station in Cudworth, Barnsley, has opened, six months behind schedule.

It was originally hoped work on the new Barnsley East fire station in Tumbling Lane would begin in May last year and the station would be in operation by the end of last year.

But managers at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue (SYFR) had to go through protracted talks with site owners Barnsley Council to secure the land, and were then forced to re-negotiate terms with their building contractor after missing a deadline.

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Work finally began on the 2.4m fire station last July, and the building was declared to be fully open this weekend.

There were fears the station opening could be further delayed due to problems in installing a new communications system but this was completed over the recent bank holiday weekend.

SYFR's head of asset management, Andrew Stevens, said: "I am pleased to say the opening of this station has gone very smoothly.

"We are very pleased with this new resource, which increases our service provision to the east side of Barnsley and the Dearne Valley.

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"I would like to thank North Midland Building Ltd, who have completed the construction of both our new stations at Dearne and Cudworth to a very high standard."

Now that the fire station is open, the full-time fire engine and crew previously based at Royston have moved to Cudworth. Royston fire station remains operational, staffed by on-call firefighters.

The opening of Cudworth fire station also means Brampton fire station has now closed. It had been due to close in April, at the same time as Mexborough station closed, upon the opening of Dearne fire station.

However, Brampton remained open until crews moved into Cudworth.