Fire chiefs have launched a new offensive to safeguard against discrimination within West Yorkshire brigade.

The pilot scheme is designed to root out any potential for racism or sexism in the brigade's recruitment process.

Because up to 5,000 hopefuls apply for just 50 or 60 jobs, the service's selectors have to pick a selection of applicants to go through to its rigorous programme of testing.

Under the new system, which will be overseen by independent scrutineers, those picking these applicants will not know their name or sex - thus eliminating any chance of discrimination.

The new process will work hand-in-hand with the brigade's other efforts to attract female and ethnic minority firefighters. Although the authority currently employs 1,700 fill-time firefighters, only six of these are women and just 13 are from ethnic minority groups.

Under strict Home Office targets, the brigade workforce must consist of 15 per cent women and nine per cent from ethnic minority groups by 2009.

Councillor Lawrence Conlon, chairman of West Yorkshire Fire Authority, said: "There is no question of 'fast tracking' anyone into a job but we must be sure that there is equality of opportunity.

"Discrimination, intentional or not, is totally unacceptable."

He added that while the authority would like to test every applicant, a lack of funding prevented it.

As well as eradicating the potential for bias, the authority is also increasing the opportunities for people to apply.

A spokesman said: "We used to advertise in one big drive every two years. If you missed the advert, it meant you would have to wait a long time to apply again."

He said the authority now planned to have around three, smaller drives each year. It is also hoped active outreach work in schools using ethnic and female role models will help plug the employment gap.

Coun Conlon said: "We want to prove that we're serious about wanting a workforce which more closely reflects the make-up of the local population." He added: "It's in all our interests to find a recruitment process is demonstrably fair, can command the confidence of all and can deliver the highest quality candidates."

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