UK environmental disaster and terror response needs £100m upgrade

“Renewing New Dimension assets is urgent but won’t undo the damage of austerity, or the wider lack of national coordination.

“To face these growing risks, resources must be reviewed and expanded to ensure the fire service is prepared. We cannot wait until the next crisis hits.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the government had an ongoing programme reviewing and updating national resilience specialist assets “to ensure that services have the resources they need to keep the public safe and save lives”.

That review is currently looking at what is needed to replace or upgrade the high-volume pumps, as well as mass decontamination units, to determine the overall costs of the New Dimension project.

She added: “Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87bn in 2024/25. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed are a matter for individual authorities.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “We’ll look at the findings of the Home Office review and work with our brilliant fire and rescue service to ensure they have the equipment they need.”