A  Shropshire farmhouse has been “donated” for a day to firefighters so they can practise their firefighting skills.

The empty cottage under renovation at Corfton Farm in Corvedale Road will be pumped full of white cosmetic smoke next week ready for firefighters from Craven Arms fire station to recreate as near as possible the conditions of a house fire.

Farmer Stephen Povall, a South Shropshire parish councillor who owns the cottage, has helped previously by offering an empty silo for firefighters to train in.

The longest serving current firefighter in the UK is to retire from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service after a record 48 year career.

Roger Smith (70), a former mayor of Market Drayton, has been fighting fires since 1967 and “hangs up his helmet” at a final drill session at Market Drayton fire station.

A company which has actively backed Shropshire’s on call firefighters for the past 25 years has been praised for its support.

Chief Fire Officer John Redmond said Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service relied on businesses such as Ludlow’s DMS Plastics which allowed employees, who are also trained firefighters, to “drop tools” at a moment’s notice to respond to 999 calls.

The firm in Lingen Road, Ludlow, currently has one of its 25 staff , employed as an on call firefighter and five previous firefighter employees over the past 25 years.

Firefighters say people should always call the fire and rescue service if there is a strong smell of burning which is unaccounted for.

John Davies, Watch Manager at Oswestry Fire Station, gave the warning after smouldering electrical wires caught fire under floorboards at a Shropshire phone shop.

Two fire appliances attended the incident at the Get Connected mobile phone shop in Willow Street, Oswestry, after they were called following reports of a burning smell.

The man who has led Ludlow’s firefighters for the past 20 years is stepping down after a 38 year firefighting career.

John Taylor (63) is retiring as Watch Manager at Ludlow Fire Station where he has been in charge of 18 of the town’s firefighters’.

But John, of Charlton Rise, Ludlow, will still be continuing his family painting and decorating business which his grandson Michael has just joined.

With an average 200 emergency calls a year, John reckons he has turned out to around 8,000 incidents during his time with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.