A crew of female Beds firefighters are set to tour the county this Saturday as part of a drive to increase the number of women in the fire service.

The Comet: A female member of the Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service at work.A female member of the Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service at work. (Image: IMAGE-MAKER)

The team will visit Morrisons in Shefford at 11am, Market Square in Biggleswade at noon, Market Square in Potton at 2pm, Market Square in Sandy at 3pm, and Bedford’s Church Square, Allhallows at 4pm.

Times are approximate – call Marion Carlile during the day on 07814 661420 for accurate arrival times.

Note that the Biggleswade appearance has been moved after it was originally set to take place at the town’s Asda.

Station commander Alan Gaytor said: “We hope that this day will give women an opportunity to find out what being a firefighter can offer.

“At present we only have 18 female firefighters out of 381 and we want to increase this number as much as possible.

“There are plenty of physically active women out there who might want a challenging job with flexible hours.

Our on-call firefighters only need to be available when they want to be, so it’s a great way to serve your community and work the way you want to.”

To be a full-time firefighter you should live in Beds, or within 10 miles of its border, be fit and over 18, have four GCSEs, be able to swim and have a full driving licence with no pending issues.

For more contact Alan Gaytor on 07717 274302 or alan.gaytor@bedsfire.com, or see bedsfire.com.