KIDDERMINSTER Fire Station has taken delivery of a new fire engine.

Crews at the Castle Road headquarters have been joined by nine other stations across Herefordshire and Worcestershire to benefit from the latest additions to the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service fleet.

Each fire engine includes a 3,000-litre water tank, increasing the volume by 40 per cent and the weight of the fully-loaded vehicle to 15 tonnes.

The latest cutting gear and radio systems can be found on each vehicle, as well as a 3,000-litre dam to enable water to be stored while more is collected.

Six cameras around each fire engine give 360 degree CCTV, offering benefits for incident review and driver training.

“The new fire engine has been allocated to our on-call crew and they are highly delighted and grateful,” said station commander Daryl Justice. “Traditionally, new fire engines have been allocated to whole-time crew.

“This engine has the water first responder kit so there will also be times when the whole-time crew will take it out to water incidents.

“It will be great to have new equipment.”

New fire engines have also been deployed at Droitwich, Evesham, Kingsland, Ledbury, Leintwardine, Leominster, Malvern, Ross-on-Wye and Tenbury Wells stations.

Area commander Guy Palmer said: “This £2.5m investment demonstrates the commitment from the fire authority to deliver a first class service not only to the communities of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, but also to empower our staff with the right tools and equipment to be able to do their job.”