Firefighters in Hampshire may no longer attend some automatic fire alarm (AFA) activations at commercial premises by default.

Proposals have been outlined for crews to change the approach for AFAs at low-risk non-residential buildings during daytime hours.

A consultation is currently taking place on the plans, which are already used by other fire services.

Cllr George Madgwick, a representative on Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority, said: “It is a balancing act and with any kind of balancing decision you are going to have pros and cons.

“The cons are going to be there is not an automatic response to some genuine cases now but in theory that should be covered by the fact the consultation is only asking for that to be within hours that you would expect a premises to be manned.

“There will be some exceptions to that rule, for example, commercial properties that are highly sensitive or look after vulnerable people.

“They will be given an exception to that rule, so they will still get an automatic response no matter what.

“This is for non-exceptional circumstances. This is about mitigating the amount of resource waste.

“Not only does it cost a fortune, it does genuinely put response times at risk in other areas.”

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said its data showed that 97 per cent of AFA notifications it receives and attends end up being false alarms.

In 2023, this saw crews going out to almost 6,500 false alarms.

The service said responding to these alarms can cause unnecessary risks to the public and firefighters, cause disruption to businesses and possibly delay a response to a genuine emergency.

Currently, crews attend all automatic fire alarms in both lower and higher-risk premises.

If approved, crews would stop attending AFAs at lower-risk commercial properties between 8am and 6pm unless there is a confirmed fire.

For lower-risk premises, a call challenge process would be introduced at these times, which would start by the fire service asking if the source of the sounding alarm had been investigated.

The fire service would still attend AFAs at domestic, residential and identified higher-risk commercial premises, and any site where a fire is suspected on receipt of a 999 call at any time.

Cllr Madgwick, who represents Portsmouth City Council, said 97 per cent of AFAs being false alarms was a “frightening statistic”.

He added: “If the change goes ahead, and that’s a big if, then it will be monitored and reported back to the fire authority and we can revisit and review the decision at a later date based on the feedback that comes in relation to whether it has been a success or not.

“It will be all be about constantly monitoring the data initially to ensure there hasn’t been any risks or anybody put at risk and it has improved the service that we are offering as an authority.”

The consultation on the change to commercial premises’ automatic fire alarm response closes on Sunday, February 9.

Views can be submitted to the fire service here.