A PAIR of Wiltshire PCSOs will be trained as volunteer firefighters under a new scheme.

The two Police Community Support Officers will be given fire service pagers, responding to emergency call-outs as part of a retained fire crew.

They will also be given extra training by Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, allowing them to give residents advice on keeping their homes safe from fire.

A pilot project will run for the next six months.

Asst Ch Con Gavin Williams said: “If this pilot is successful not only will we will be improving the service our officers offer in the community but we will also provide extra resource in a fire emergency.

“Our officers’ core role remains as a PCSO but they will receive additional training allowing them to increase community safety, performing safe and well checks in vulnerable people’s homes as well as referring commercial fire safety issues.

“We are lucky that our two new pilot project PCSOs are already retained firefighters so we believe that this trial period will enable us to gain a tangible insight into whether this should be rolled out force wide.”

Chief fire officer Ben Ansell added: “We continue to face challenges with recruiting on-call firefighters and this innovative approach to service delivery is an excellent example of implementing collaborative working initiatives that are both in line with government thinking and provide real benefit to local communities.”