'London fire service at risk'

Station personnel and their senior officers are said to be at loggerheads, with employees accusing their bosses of "backstabbing", being "two-faced" and "not supportive enough".

The independent study - commissioned by the authority that governs the brigade, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) - exposes the "very negative" attitude of firefighters towards senior officers and a damaging "communications gulf" between all ranks. Firefighters claimed their superiors had "forgotten what it was like to be a fireman".

It warns that low morale is "in danger of eroding firefighters' commitment to the brigade". The £38,500 investigation also concludes that station commanders feel "caught between a demanding and unappreciative management and an unmotivated and often resentful workforce".

Meanwhile, female firefighters and ethnic minorities frequently complain of feeling like "outsiders" in their working environment.

The study goes on to highlight the case of firefighters being issued with gloves that melted when they were worn to pick up hot objects - because the men on the ground had not been consulted about the choice of glove.

The Fire Brigades Union today furiously attacked LFEPA over the 53-page document. It accused the governing body of attempting to "bury" it after the organisation's director of corporate services Rita Dexter admitted in an internal email: "The report as constructed is not one that we would wish to publish."

Union spokesman Mick Shaw said the report is "a scandalous waste of money, but at least it exposes how bad things are; the falling staffing levels and the autocratic, remote leadership".

The LFB accepted the findings are "not good news", but added it was now attempting to remedy the situation.

An LFB spokesman said: "We are going through a considerable period of change with more emphasis on fire prevention. It is not just a question of putting fires out - it is a change in the way firefighters work."

The spokesman added: "We are moving towards a workforce that we hope will be more representative of London, with more women and ethnic minorities."

He denied there had been any attempt to "bury" the report.