AVON Fire and Rescue Service is dealing with its diversity issues – but only seven per cent of applicants in its latest recruitment drive were from minority races.

A new crop of trainee firefighters donned the uniform on May 29 in the second intake since recruitment was frozen in 2009.

The service made a special effort to attract female and black and minority ethnic (BME) trainees onto its books.

It comes after a 2017 Home Office investigation into the service found “serious issues with the equality and diversity” of the brigade, with just two per cent of staff from BME communities.

Across the UK, BMEs make up four per cent of fire and rescue services’ staff, far less than the average makeup in the rest of the population.

The Avon service used social media to spread its slogan ‘Yes You Can’.

At the end of the recruitment process 14 new firefighters were appointed, with two women and three from BME groups.

But only seven per cent of the applications for the trainee firefighter positions were from BME communities.

A report for Avon Fire Authority, the body of elected councillors that oversee the service, said: “This was just 29 applicants and is too low, further work will be undertaken to learn what the Fire Authority can do to improve application rates amongst this group.”

A total of 17 per cent of applicants were female. Sixteen women failed the strength test, but no men failed it.

The report said: “The strength test is an important functional test to ensure that any successful recruits will be able to extend a ladder and use heavy cutting tools.

“It is important that new recruits can carry out the full range of duties of a firefighter without injury to themselves or reliance on colleagues to take on some of the duties.

“There is concern about the number of females failing the strength test and support to potential recruits will be reviewed. For the most recent recruitment exercise, the fitness advisor had provided training and guidance. Unfortunately some females invited to the sessions had not attended.”

The brigade said it was considering options to increase diversity in future recruitment, such as female only fitness days, copying innovative new measures being taken by other brigades and using social media more extensively in high BME areas.