Thousands have taken time away from the job struggling with depression, stress, anxiety and other mental health complaints.

The total for West Midlands Fire Service rose from 3,125 in 2016 to 5,040 in 2018. It fell to 4,151 last year but it is already on course to beat that total in 2020. Up to July this year there had been 3,247 mental health sick days.

It was a similar story at Staffordshire Fire Service where mental health sick days rose every year from 2016 to 2019, from 622 to 1,134. There were 494 in 2020, as of June.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the figures showed some firefighters were struggling to cope with the stresses of the role, and that cuts over the last decade meant they were being asked to do more with fewer resources.

West Midlands FBU secretary Steve Price-Hunt said: “In the fire service we have now had 10 years of austerity. Cuts to thousands of firefighters and station closures have put pressure on firefighters, and real-term pay cuts have possibly had a bearing on it. It’s a hugely stressful job.

“It is an issue that needs to be taken seriously. Mental health is on the rise across society. And the problem is the whole of the emergency services have been cut to the bone.

“We need proper funding for fire and rescue services, emergency services and public services.”

Figures also showed total sick days at West Midlands Fire Service rose every year since 2017 when there were 14,707, to 2019 when there were 17,643.

There were 4,271 sick days at Staffordshire Fire Service last year, slighltly down from 2018’s total of 4,452.

A West Midlands Fire Service spokesman said: “We couldn’t deliver high-quality services to our communities without our amazing staff. Their physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing is a priority for us.

“Our most recent inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services rated us as ‘good’ for how we look after our staff.

“The reasons for stress might be personal or work-related, but we have a range of measures in place to support individuals – from our robust health and safety policies, through to our training and debriefing following traumatic emergency incidents. We also work hard to raise awareness of mental health wellbeing in the workplace.”