A FIRE brigade union says it is "dismayed" after figures revealed almost £37,000 was spent on a new car for Herefordshire's fire chief.

The Fire Brigades Union has attacked what it calls "unnecessary expenditure" after a Freedom of Information request to Hereford and Worcester Fire & Rescue Service showed the money was spent on the vehicle for its chief fire officer, Mark Yates.

"We believe that this is totally unnecessary expenditure on a vehicle that has little or no operational benefit when the service is still facing a funding gap of £2m in the coming years," said an FBU spokesperson.

"FBU members have taken career breaks, gone on secondment to other fire services, and some have even taken voluntary redundancies, all in the attempt to avoid compulsory redundancy.

"We are facing possible station closures, there are less fire appliances in the service and we are now having to reduce the number of firefighters on a fire engine from a standard of five to a new standard of just four.

"This does not portray the service in a positive light to the public we serve, as ultimately it is their money that funds our fire service."

It has not been confirmed what the make or model of the car is.

The fire service, however, said the cost of officer vehicles has reduced in recent years.

"At the end of 2015, the chief fire officer’s vehicle was replaced at a cost of £36,990.94 (plus VAT) as part of the replacement programme for officer vehicles," said a spokesman.

"Vehicles are normally replaced every three years, however, the chief fire officer’s previous car was used over a four-year period in a bid to prolong the life of the vehicle.

"This vehicle is an asset of the fire authority and will continue to be an asset after the chief fire officer retires in March 2016.

"All principal officers in the service are provided with an operational response vehicle and the replacement asset has been based on the normal specification for this.

"Over the years, the service has reduced the total overall cost of officer vehicles and annual cost of this particular asset has also been reduced from £6,000 in 2010/11 to £5,700. The cost of the car to the authority is the cost of financing the difference between the actual purchase price and the sale value."

The spokesman said the authority buys "at a significant discount off the list price", and selects vehicles with "strong residual values".