The total number of incidents attended by the fire brigade in North Ayrshire is down in the last six months.

From April 1 to September 30 they attended 1,516 incidents – down eight per cent – and there were 39 non-fire casualties, which is the same as the last reporting period.

Accidental fires are dramatically down 33 per cent year-on-year, the three-year average is down 10 per cent and the five-year average down seven per cent, the police, fire and rescue committee of North Ayrshire Council heard on Monday.

A further review of the three years average indicated a 0.3 per cent decrease in overall operational activity during a similar time frame.

However, false alarms accounted for more than half of all demand within North Ayrshire, with fire-related and special service activity accounting for 30.5 per cent and 13.2 per cent respectively during the same period.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) admit they will see funding from the Scottish Government cut in real terms.

But they say in their Strategic Plan 2022-25: “The challenges we face are significant and it is clear to us that our capacity to deliver our full potential will be contingent on the availability of funding.

“We will always strive to do more for the people of Scotland but we must also be realistic in pursuing our ambition based on the resources available to us.”

The SFRS’s Ayrshire area has been working closely with an array of partners to deliver programmes and initiatives designed to support the safety of local residents over the period of November 4 to 6.

This work included delivering safety presentations to young people across North Ayrshire, identifying and uplifting materials used for unwanted and dangerous bonfires, promotion of organised displays across the region and co-responding measures being adopted by the SFRS and Police Scotland over the course of the aforementioned weekend period.