THE alarm has been raised over the state of several of North Ayrshire's fire stations – with an MSP claiming some are falling apart and putting the public at risk.

Scottish Labour's Katy Clark this week obtained shock details showing the conditions and suitability of 356 buildings across Scotland.

The report, released by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) under freedom of information, raises major concerns about stations serving Ardrossan, Dalry, Kilbirnie and Beith.

It describes both the conditions and suitability of Ardrossan, Dalry and Kilbirnie as poor.

Neither Ardrossan nor Kilbirnie had showers for female firefighters.

While the condition of Beith station is said to be poor and its suitability bad.

It had no drying facilities for staff or dedicated male or female toilets or showers.

On a positive note the condition of Kilwinning fire station was rated as satisfactory and its suitability as good.

Ms Clark, who is an MSP for West Scotland and Scottish Labour's spokesperson on Community Safety, commented: “It is astounding to see the extent to which Scotland’s fire estate is falling apart.

“Firefighters, who work so hard to ensure the safety of people in our communities, need to be well equipped, well-resourced, well protected and well paid to do the job they do.

"The Scottish Government has had 15 years to modernise the estate. The real terms cuts in that time do not occur in a vacuum – they affect response times to emergency incidents, putting the public at risk.

“These figures must be a wake-up call – it’s time to modernise Scotland’s crumbling fire estate.”

In the SFRS report half of Scotland stations are described as being in “bad” or “poor” condition, with a further 47 percent assessed as being of “bad” or “poor” suitability.

The report also found that one in four stations across Scotland, including Ardrossan, Kilbirnie and Beith, did not have shower facilities for female firefighters.

Ms Clark, who served as North Ayrshire and Arran's Westminster MP from 2005 until 2015, added: "This is not acceptable and puts firefighters, who are already exposed to dangerous fire contaminants in their day-to-day job, at further risk of developing cancers and other illnesses."

Most of the fire stations surveyed had few 'gender neutral' facilities for staff, though Beith had a gender neutral toilet and shower.

The report also found than 40 per cent of Scottish fire stations are 50 years old or more, with one of the oldest being Ardrossan, built in 1958, while the Beith station dates from 1961.

Kilwinning and Ardrossan are curently staffed full time with the other three covered by on call staff.

Iain Morris, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service acting director of asset management, said: "The safety and welfare of our staff who serve communities across Scotland remains a priority for us.

"We are fully committed to addressing any challenges around the repair and maintenance of our buildings as we work tirelessly to balance our budget.

“We recognise that there are a number of fire stations where there are limited welfare facilities. These are already identified within our ongoing capital investment requirements and plans."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Effective fire safety remains a priority for the Scottish Government and we have continued our commitment to support service delivery and reform with an increase of £14.4m in budget cover for SFRS in 2023-24.

“Decisions on the allocation of resources from the Scottish Government are a matter for SFRS and we will continue to work closely with them to identify the funding they need.”