ONE of West Craven's most experienced fire officers has taken over the reins at Earby Fire Station.

Sub-officer Chris Nuttall (pictured) has been a retained firefighter at Barnoldswick for the past 28 years, serving alongside his brother Malcolm, also a sub-officer. Now Chris, who lives in Salterforth, has been transferred to Earby where he takes over as sub-officer in charge/station commander.

Although he was happy at Barnoldswick, he applied to transfer to the Earby station because of the challenges he knew it would bring.

"I enjoy this tremendously and after 28 years I'm still keen to keep learning and improving," said Chris.

"Basically, I was looking for a new challenge and I'm really looking forward to it.

"It's more about rescue than putting fires out these days and there's a lot of specialised equipment to use and training to be done."

It's no secret there's a healthy rivalry between the Barnoldswick and Earby brigades, and Chris hopes to strengthen links between the two stations and their crews, who often work side by side.

Chris also helps to run the Young Firefighters at Barnoldswick, with his brother Malcolm and firefighter Mick Strickland. He hopes that in time there might be a Young Firefighters unit at the Earby Station, or more likely a joint Barnoldswick and Earby group.

He also serves as a recruit assessor for the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, helping to assess potential retained firefighter recruits.

His second-in-command at Earby is leading firefighter Glyn Sedman, who has been acting station commander for the past three months.

When he isn't on fire service duty, Chris is well-known throughout the area in another capacity, running his coach holiday company Chris Nuttall Travel.