Moray MSP Richard Lochhead has demanded that jobs be protected amid the upcoming takeover of fire crews at RAF Lossiemouth.
In October it emerged that Moray personnel could be at risk of redundancy after a £525 million fire and rescue service contract was agreed between the Ministry of Defence and Capita.
Mr Lochhead has now written to Jonathan Lewis, the chief executive of Capita, to appeal for him to secure the jobs of 29 civilian firefighters at Lossiemouth.
It is understood that Capita is proposing to replace the civilian fire crew with military personnel.
Many of the staff on thecrew have worked at RAF Lossiemouth for several years and also serve their community by acting as retained firefighters.
Capita will hold a meeting to discuss the future of the fire crew on Thursday, ahead of acquiring the contract in April.
Mr Lochhead said: “It seems that Lossiemouth is unique in that it is the only station in Scotland currently manned by civilian fire crew set to be affected by this proposal.
“With the expansion at RAF Lossiemouth this should be a time where we’re seeing an increase in the number of civilian jobs and opportunities for local folk to work at the base.
“But instead our local and dedicated fire crew are facing the axe.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman previously said suggestions of job losses were “pure speculation”.