Residents received an additional two weeks to share their opinions on the proposals to leave Sale's fire station unstaffed for more than 12 hours a day.

Currently, the fire station at the corner of Cranleigh Drive and Oaklands Drive is staffed 24 hours a day, like other sites in Altrincham and Stretford.

The fire service, however, wants to switch Sale's fire station to a 'day crew' system in which it would be staffed during the day between 8.30am and 6pm, but it would be unstaffed during the night between 6pm and 8.30am. Overnight, firefighters within four minutes of the fire station would be on call for any incident.

This 'day crew' system is in operation at six sites (Horwich, Irlam, Littleborough, Marple, Mossley, Ramsbottom) with the service saying the addition of this station and another station in Offerton, Stockport, would lead to a saving of £1 million for investment into two new engines at Manchester Central and Moss Side. 

There is also investment into special appliances such as extendable turrets and turntable ladders. 

After the plan was announced a number of councillors across the political spectrum spoke out in opposition to it. They included Ben Hartley – a councillor for Ashton and Mersey and a prospective Labour MP for Altrincham and Sale – who wrote to metro mayor Andy Burnham with his concerns.

Cllr Hartley said: "I am urging you on behalf of the people I represent and aspire to represent not to proceed with the proposal. I do not say this lightly. 

"I have a number of concerns after discussing the proposal with fire officers, firefighters, the FBU, local leaders and, most importantly, local residents."

A consultation started last month and it was set to run until July 10 but residents received an additional two weeks to share their opinions on the proposals when it was extended until July 24.

Dave Russel, chief fire officer for GMFRS, said: "In the first few weeks of the consultation, we've been taking these proposals out to residents and listening to what they've got to say. The clear message is people are engaged and want as much time as possible to be able to contribute to the decisions.

"That’s why we're extending the consultation and widening our engagement with residents and partner networks, with a focus on the areas involved in the proposals and surrounding neighbourhoods. This will enable people to get involved in the consultation and to help to shape our plans for the future of GMFRS."

To contribute to the consultation go to gmconsult.org.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.