HUNDREDS of firefighters descended upon Holyrood today, warning MSPs that they will explore “all options” to reverse service cuts.

Firefighters and their trade union have been resisting the imposition of over £11 million of cuts to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) this year alone, part of a total of £36m to be made over four years.

SFRS chief officer Ross Haggart said that “modernisation” was necessary “to meet the changing risk and demand we face across Scotland, while also addressing our ongoing financial challenges,” but firefighters have warned that lives are being put at risk.

Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Scotland chairman Gus Sproul said: “Since its inception just over a decade ago, the SFRS has cut over 1,200 jobs.

“The FBU in Scotland are predicting that if there is no improvement in the budget from the Scottish government, another 780 could go in the near future.

“Only this year, we saw 10 fire appliances, nine high-reach vehicles and the permanently crewed river rescue boat on the Clyde withdrawn from stations, leaving communities with reduced emergency cover.

“Only this week, major house fires at East Kilbride and Lochgelly have shown the devastating consequences of delayed incident response times.

“We have been making our case repeatedly to Scottish government ministers, but even with the chief fire officer admitting how devastating this budget will be, we are still being ignored.

“If the Scottish government continues to ignore the multiple crises facing the service, then our members will be left with no option but to consider all options to force political leaders to wake up to the disaster that is befalling what should be a well-trained, well-equipped and well-resourced public service.”

The hundreds of firefighters were joined by comrades from across the Scottish trade union movement, as well as Scottish Labour MSPs and backbenchers from the ruling SNP-Green coalition.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused First Minister Humza Yousaf of “putting his head in the sand” over the cuts.

He said: “When the single fire service was created, the SNP said that it would — and I quote — not result in ‘cutting front-line services.’

“It’s clear now that was either SNP spin or SNP incompetence.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We are maintaining front-line services, with a higher number of firefighters in Scotland than other parts of the UK.