Kent's fire chiefs must slash £16m off their budget over the next four years.

At a briefing today at Kent Fire and Rescue Service headquarters in Tovil, Maidstone, it was announced there would be no compulsory job losses.

But one fire station would be closed in Thanet, and staff from Gillingham and Chatham would be moved to Medway Station in Watling Street, Chatham.

A report, due to be published next week and put out to consultation, revealed the service would be looking for job losses to come from natural wastage, rather than compulsory redundancies.

That would help make £4m savings each year, off an annual budget of just over £70m.

The service would also try to make savings by not attending automatic fire alarms until it had been confirmed it was a genuine fire or incident. There will be certain exceptions.

This was due to come into effect from April 2012, following statistics which revealed there were nearly 30,000 such callouts between 2005 and 2009. Just 0.3 per cent of those ended in fires, with no fatalities.

The move is dubbed "some of the most important changes the service has seen in a generation."

Cllr Keith Ferrin, chairman of KMFRA's policy and performance committee, said: "Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) works around the clock, 365 days a year dealing with fires, road traffic collisions and other emergencies, such as floods, explosions and chemical incidents.

"Though we are living through challenging times, I believe that the detailed planning KFRS has been doing over recent years puts it in a good place to continue to deliver the first class service our local communities deserve.

"People are often worried about changes to their local fire service, but the fact is KFRS never stands still and never have done. Its job is to respond to constantly changing risks and deliver the best service, at the best price, for local taxpayers."

The changes include:

* Medway: Two new fire stations. In the short term, staff at Chatham and Gillingham Fire Stations will move to the nearby Medway Fire Station, but those two stations won't close.

* Thanet: Thanet Station at Westwood Cross will close, with equipment and staff relocated to other areas. Fire chiefs are seeking a replacement for Ramsgate fire station.

A second review stage will include seven more areas, including Dartford and Gravesham, Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable, Deal and Dover and Folkestone and Hythe.

• The draft report will go to the authority's policy and performance committee on November 1. If the document is agreed, it will go out to public consultation, and following that willgo back to the full authority in February 2011 for a final decision.