CASH-STRAPPED fire chiefs are facing a financial double whammy - and council tax payers may end up having to bail them out.

North Yorkshire Fire Authority has revealed that pension reserves are almost exhausted after last year's pensions bill came to £583,000 more than had been budgeted for.

And the bill for the current year is set to rise again as more firefighters retire, leaving a £123,000 shortfall which North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council will have to meet.

At the same time, the authority has been rocked by a national agreement entitling part-time firefighters to four years holiday back pay.

This will cost the authority another £136,000, which it does not have the resources to meet. Again, it will have to ask the two local authorities for more cash.

The authority knew it would have to meet the costs of holidays this year for retained firefighters, but only recently discovered about the back pay agreement.

At the same time, the authority is also tackling a general overspend of £70,000 for last year by a series of economy measures.

Authority chairman Councillor Geoff Rennie today hit out at the national back-pay agreement for retained firefighters.

"This is something we had no forewarning of, and we haven't got the resources to cover it," he said. "Decisions are made nationally without any thought as to who is going to pay for it."

But Coun Rennie was criticised by Harrogate Liberal Democrat member Margaret-Anne de Courcey, who claimed the authority's financial health had declined significantly since he was appointed last December.

Coun Rennie hit back, criticising the way the authority was previously run by a Liberal Democrat chairman.

York Liberal Democrat councillor Jonathan Morley warned that the authority would be going back to City of York Council for significant sums of money in coming months.

He said £100,000 had been cut from the pension reserve in January by the authority, against the advice of the treasurer.