Oxford residents fight to keep their fire siren running overnight

Oxford residents are fighting to keep their fire siren on all night.

Residents in the North Canterbury town of Oxford are fighting to keep their fire siren running 24/7.

A petition has been launched to keep the siren turned on overnight after Fire and Emergency changed it to only sound if services don't respond after three minutes.

The siren continues to run as normal between 7am and 10pm.

Oxford resident Cassandra Walker said while other North Canterbury towns do not run a siren overnight, her town was more remote.

"Oxford is a town on its own, we are quite a distance away from Rangiora. We rely on our volunteer guys a lot," she said.

A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said removing the siren is about reducing noise and inconvenience for the community.

"If you were the person who had lets say been in a car accident, it's [the siren] reassuring for you, it lets you know good help is on the way."