THERE are two new faces on duty at Dursley Fire Station after a successful recruitment drive.

Sarah Redmond, 39, of Dursley, and 19-year-old Luke Stanton, also from Dursley, joined the crew at the town’s fire station this month.

The pair managed to beat off competition from 60 applicants for the posts and successfully complete a tough training programme to get them prepared for what they might face as a retained firefighter.

The two rookies have already attended several incidents including flooding in Berkeley, kitchen fires and road traffic accidents, putting their new skills to good use.

Mother-of-one Sarah, who works at Wotton Farm Shop, said she had applied to become a retained firefighter to give something back to the community.

She said: "I just wanted a challenge, a new challenge and I saw the sign out and it gave me a bit of a calling.

"The community has been brilliant to me over the years and I had time to give something back."

Despite already working 33 hours a week and being a mum, Sarah said being on call with the fire service day and night was not a problem.

She said: "That was my biggest concern but it makes you appreciate what hours you do have and what hours you waste. I am making more of my time."

Fellow new recruit Luke Stanton said joining the Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service has given him focus.

Luke, who works as a handyman, said: "I saw it as a good career and there are plenty of opportunities to learn different things. It’s something to be proud of."

After just a few weeks the recruits are settling in well and receiving praise from their Watch commander Neil Bridges.

Mr Bridges said: "They’ve fitted in really well with bags of enthusiasm.

"They are both really hard working on the incidents we’ve been to over the last week. We’ve had some challenging incidents and they’ve dealt with them well.

"After the training they’ve received they are putting that into practice and applying everything they’ve learnt."

Dursley Fire Station will be recruiting again in January next year.