PRINCETOWN Fire Service has received a new emergency response vehicle to serve the community and surrounding villages on Dartmoor.

Watch manager Jon Webber, the Fire Service co-responding liaison officer, said traditionally, firefighters had always responded to co-responding emergencies using a normal fire appliance, in the same way that they would to any normal incident.

He said: 'Due to the geographical location of the Princetown community, the fire service has now supplied the co-responders at Princetown with a 4x4 response vehicle that can provide not only a quicker response to the medical emergencies, but can also adapt to the more inclement weather that is encountered.'

Fire service personnel employed at Princetown Fire Station have been operating the joint responding scheme with the South Western Ambulance Service (NHS) Trust since 1999, attending on average 60 calls per year.

They are retained firefighters who have completed additional medical training to perform this role and will be mobilised by the ambulance service to any incident deemed life-threatening.

Watch manager Henry Melle, station commander at Princetown, said: 'We have been here to provide medical help and support to all those people that live in our community for many years.

'Ultimately, we are here to try and save people's lives, and I know this new vehicle will be able to get us to those people more quickly.'

The fire service personnel at Princetown expressed thanks to all who have and continue to support their local fire service.