Isle of Skye left with no fire cover for an hour

THE Isle of Skye had no firefighters for just over an hour, fire chiefs have admitted.

The Hebridean island had to rely on a unit on the Scottish mainland, at Kyle of Lochalsh, between 2pm and 3.15pm on Tuesday.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said it had recently introduced a different procedure for retained crew.

The five stations on Skye are at Uig, Staffin, Dunvegan, Portree and Broadford. It is believed the stations did not have the full complement required to attend an emergency.

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The nearest mainland station to the island is Kyle, just over the Skye Bridge.

The travel time would be about an hour to Dunvegan, 35 to 45 minutes to Portree, about 25 minutes to Sleat and 10 to 12 minutes to Broadford. A second pump would take longer to arrive.

Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP Ian Blackford said: “It is obviously completely unacceptable that anywhere is left without cover for that time. To get from Kyle to the north end of Skye is going to take a long time.

“It leaves me shuddering to think what would happen if there was an incident taking place on the north end of Skye.

“It is totally unacceptable and I will be taking it up with SFRS.”