BUCKINGHAMSHIRE and Milton Keynes Fire Authority is weak, according to an Audit Commission report published this week.

But fire chief Damian Smith said the report has nothing to do with the work done by his firefighters.

They deliver a good service to the people of the county, he said.

Mr Smith added that there had been no fire deaths in the past year, arson rates were down, accidents to do with fires were down, and resp-onse times were better than satisfactory. He said the Audit Commission report was about organisation.

He said: "On leadership and planning we score highly.

"The reason we have been graded as weak is entirely on the basis that we don't have enough people to deal with the modernisation agenda brought in after the firemen's dispute."

He said he had taken on more headquarters staff and they were punching above their weight. But if more HQ staff were needed so was more money. The fire service was one of the cheapest to run in the country "I can go round the country and there are authorities of a similar size that cost twice as much," he said.

The fire authority is one of 47 in England who are being scored excellent, good, fair, weak, or poor.

Two are excellent, 20 good, 17 fair, four weak and two poor.

The Audit Commission agrees the judgments have nothing to do with fire emergencies.

And it says the new management team in Bucks is showing strong leadership, is now moving ahead with change, knows what has to improve and is planning to do so.

It also agrees that lack of money has held progress up.

The report adds that more people are needed in community safety, the management of performance and the fin-ance systems are inadequate, and little progress has been made on modernisation until very recently.