ESSEX'S top firefighter has said cuts to the service are necessary, following a nine-day strike over new shift patterns.Call operators returned to their desks at 9am on Thursday last week after manning the picket line from the Tuesday previous.At a press conference called on Friday in response to the action by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), acting chief fire officer Adam Eckley said: "I'm not denying the people in the call centre do an important job, but they do a lot less of it than they...
