Broughty Ferry residents are joining firefighters and politicans in a rally against plans to downgrade their local fire station.

Hundreds of people are expected to march through the area on Saturday over proposals to remove overnight cover at Balmossie station, moving a crew to Forfar and using retained firefighters to cover the area.

Union officials have warned that the plans - which were rejected by Tayside's fire board last year, but have been put forward again - could put lives at risk.

Ronnie Costello, Fire Brigades Union branch secretary for Tayside, told stv.tv: "We are worried about safety. The retained guys do a great job but one of the most important issues when you're responding to a fire is the initial response time - the time it takes to get there. And you're lengthening that period by going to retained cover.

"It's almost a year since these plans were rejected before - there's a real sense of deja vu here - but the public have been very supportive once again."

The region's fire board has been consulting on the proposals, and Mr Costello said more than 5,000 people in the area had voiced their opposition to the move.

Saturday's march starts at Castle Green, go along King Street, Fort Street and Brook Street, ending at St Aidan's Hall with a rally and speeches.

Figures released earlier this year showed that overnight crews at Balmossie were called out to just two small fires in the final quarter of 2009. The board said that was consistent with call-out rates for the previous two quarters, but the union said those figures only recorded incidents within the station area - not the number of times crews were actually called out.

Mr Costello added: "The Balmossie station also covers the area around Carnoustie, when they're short, as they're already retained. These plans would leave a huge area with only retained cover. These guys do a great job, but they're not available all the time. There's no better option than full-time crews."

The fire service says the changes would allow a full-time day shift in Forfar, providing emergency cover and better community fire safety there. The board will meet to debate the plans in Perth on Monday, March 29.