Every day seven Otley heroes lead double lives - like Clark Kent they change in to their Superman costumes at the drop of a hat.

These are the ordinary men who make up the ranks of Otley's retained fire fighters, working in the town's pubs and garages.

This New Year the small band of seven loyal lifesavers are appealing to the public to come and join them in their fight against fires.

The struggling seven are desperate for new recruits to help protect the town.

All of the men live and work within five minutes walk from the fire station, a prerequisite for the job.

During the day they all carry pagers and should there be a fire nearby they have to drop what they are doing, run to the station and head to the fire.

Otley should have at least ten retained firefighters, so the men are not on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Despite working all day and facing the possibility of being woken up at 3am by a fire call, they love being firemen.

When I joined them on their weekly training night to see what is so special about the job their devotion to duty was clear for all to see..

Sub-officer Graham Newall has been a retained fireman for 23 years, initially at Rawdon and then at Otley. The 46-year-old, who works for Craftsman Tools Ltd, on Pool Road, leads the crew at Otley and explains why he enjoys the job.

"It is something different from the normal things you do," he said. "It is very demanding it can be very time consuming with being on call. We have to carry pagers and if they go off we have to get to the station as soon as we can. I am very lucky that my employer will let me leave if there is a fire.

"I first became a retained fire fighter because a work colleague used to be one. One day I asked him about it, it sounded very interesting and I applied.

"We take it in turns to be on call at the weekend, at the moment it is very difficult for us because there are so few of us we are on call a lot more."

The youngest recruit at Otley, Jamie Newsom-Smith, has been a retained fire fighter for a year. He joined the week after his 18th birthday.

The 19-year-old loves the job so much that he has found a full-time job in Otley to fit around his work as a fireman.

"My uncle was a retained fire fighter in North Yorkshire so I knew you could join on a part-time basis," he said.

"The week after my birthday I rang up and I went for a medical. I am still training now, it is an on-going process, I can do everything now though.

"I really enjoy the job, but it is hard when you have to get up at 3am. But we have to give 24 hour cover. We can be off call if we want to go out. I work at Argos and The Bowling Green pub and they are really good about letting me out if there is a fire."

Jamie hopes to become a full-time fireman in the future, but the jobs are in short supply with 50 applicants for each post.

He joined the Otley crew as a stop gap before going into the RAF but he loved it so much he decided to stay.

"I never wanted to do it for more than six months, I was supposed to be going into the RAF, but I enjoyed it so much I decided I wanted to stay and be a fireman," he said.

"Once I get a call I run to the station, most of the time it happens when I order a pizza and I always have to leave it.

"I don't get scared going out to the fires. On the way everyone is silent on the engine, because you don't know what to expect. Afterwards you can be scared."

Otley is one of the busiest retained stations dealing with around 300 to 400 calls a year, nearly one every day.

Warren Utley, a print finisher at William Sinclair's, followed his father, who was the sub-commander at Otley, into the retained fire service.

He joined the team at Otley four years ago and he loves the job.

"I love the job, so much that when I go on holiday I miss it, especially if they go on a job without me," said the 30-year-old.

The trouble with Otley recruits is that they have to live and work in the town and be allowed to leave their day jobs instantly if there is a fire.

For one fireman, Michael Knox, this meant setting up his own business so that he could answer fire calls without any problems.

The owner of MK Autos, on North Parade, said: "I have been a fireman for 15 years, I used to be a retained fireman at Rawdon and then I moved here in 1993. I still love the job.

"I was working for someone else but it was difficult to be able to leave if there was a fire, so I set up my own business.

"It is still difficult but most of my customers know what I do, but if we are busy I have to work late a lot to catch up. But at the end of the day I am doing something different and Otley needs to have fire cover."

Stephen Watson, of Inglewood Drive, is Otley's Community Fire Safety Officer.

He fits smoke alarms in residents' houses for free, for every house in Otley. All people have to do is ring up the station.

"It is so important to have a smoke alarm," said the 43-year-old.

"It will save your life. If you haven't got one call us and we will put one in for you. We will even provide ten-year batteries with them."

Station Commander of Rawdon Fire Station Bill Harrison said: "We are in desperate need of retained firefighters at Otley. The main problem is that people have to get to the station within five minutes on foot and not many people live and work in the town and are able to do this.

"The firemen in Otley are all very good men, they are a great team and work very hard. We really need some new recruits to take the pressure off them."

If anyone is interested in joining the recruits at Otley they can call in at the fire station on Mondays between 7pm and 9pm or call Otley Fire Station on (01943) 462222 or Rawdon Fire Station on (0113) 2502223.