WOMEN are being encouraged to bid for jobs as retained firefighters at a village fire station.

Recruits are needed to help staff under-strength Haworth, and women who meet the fitness level - and are over 18 years old - can join the crew.

West Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority is holding a special open evening at Haworth Fire Station next Wednesday, from 7- 9pm.

The station is staffed by retained crew - part-timers who carry bleepers and need to be able to respond to a call within five minutes.

Fire service press officer Stephen Hardy says Haworth is under-strength and it is necessary to recruit a number of new retained crew.

"It may be that this job might attract women, given that many have part-time work or work in the home and live closer to the station so they can respond in time," he says..

"Women are capable of doing the job just as well as men, so long as they can meet the fitness requirements."

He said retained crew were difficult to recruit because they had to be able to respond to an emergency within five minutes.

"People work much further away from their homes than they used to, so they can't respond in time. And employers are reluctant to let people leave work at the drop of a hat and not know when they are coming back," he added.

Rather than insist that crews are available 24 hours a day - as happened in the past - the service is now looking for people who can pledge specific times - like weekends, evenings or other certain times. They could earn an average of £3,500 a year.

Haworth is not a busy station, but without full cover, some emergency calls have to be dealt with by other full-time stations, such as Keighley, he says.

Potential recruits will have to undergo a fitness test and then a rigorous training programme over a number of weeks.

Once recruited they will have to attend a weekly training and drill session at the fire station in Station Road.

Stephen Torr has been a retained firefighter at Haworth for two years. He says: "I really enjoy the challenge and the excitement. I go to all kinds of incidents, ranging from major fires to rescuing animals trapped in rivers."

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