Trevor Disley, Chair of the Essex Retained Firefighters Union said.

“This is a very significant investment in the retained service. With the fast rate of change, new equipment and new skills it has been a real struggle to maintain our training and this extra training time combined with new specialist trainers will make a real difference.

Retained Firefighters are the unsung heroes of the fire Service who 24 hours a day and largely unnoticed, provide the backbone of fire and rescue cover in Essex and throughout the country. Of Essex’s 52 stations, 34 are crewed by retained personnel.

Trevor Disley who has served at Coggeshall for nearly 30 years continued “We have been in discussions with Senior Management for some time and together have come up with this new scheme which represents a real vote of confidence for the retained service and which will help maintain the high standards of fire cover we have come to expect in the county.”

Trevor Disley, ERFU Chair