Firefighters: changes could cost some £1,400 a year

FIREFIGHTERS who retire at the age of 55 after 30 years of service currently receive a pension package equivalent to two-thirds of their current salary – or about £28,000 a year.

The annual pensions entitlement works out at about £18,000-a-year for retired firefighters across the United Kingdom for those who have served their 30 years.

However, firefighters leaving the service at the age of 55 have the option of commuting their pensions entitlement and being paid a one-off lump sum of £100,000.

Under the UK coalition government shake-up of pensions, only firefighters who are ten years from retirement would receive that level of pension.

Those more than ten years from retirement who decide to leave the service at the age of 55 would face losing 5 per cent of their annual pension entitlement of around £28,000, a deduction of around £1,400 a year.

Firefighters who joined the service after 2006 have already been forced to agree to terms that would see them have to work until they reach 60, although that group represents a relatively small proportion of the service.