A car wash will be held in Newport on May 25 to raise funds to transport much needed fire engines to Romania.

Staff from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service are holding the Saturday fund raising event at Newport Fire Station from 10am to 3pm.

“We need as many people as possible to come and have their car washed on the day and to contribute what they can towards the charity trip,” said Newport firefighter Charlie Cartwright.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service has “already delivered” many of the suggestions outlined in Sir Ken Knight’s report on cutting expenditure in national fire and rescue services, it was revealed today.

Fire deaths and injuries and the number of accidental house fires in the county are down while fire engines and firefighter numbers have also fallen in proportion.

The fire service in Shropshire costs only £43 per head of population compared to almost £60 for the most costly fire services.

The ability to tackle pollution incidents in the county has been boosted with a joint initiative between Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Environment Agency.

Four of the brigade’s existing four wheel drive vehicles are being kitted out by the Environment Agency with better equipment for firefighters to deal with fuel and chemical spills to prevent potential environmental disasters.

Also a new Toyota Hilux – dubbed an Environmental Protection Unit – has been jointly provided by the Environment Agency and the county brigade.

The new Chief Fire Officer of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service has been appointed by Shropshire and Wrekin Fire and Rescue Authority.

John Redmond, the current Deputy Chief Fire Officer will take over in July from the present Chief Fire Officer Paul Raymond, who is retiring.

Originally from Wallasey on Merseyside, John gained a degree in geography at the University of Hull in 1982.

He joined London Fire Brigade in 1983 and spent 12 years in the capital in a variety of roles before moving to Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service in 1995.

At 5:08pm on Saturday evening Shropshire Fire and Rescue Services control room received a call from Sleap Airfield near Wem reporting a light aircraft experiencing difficulty with its landing gear.

Fire Control immediately dispatched 1 fire engine from Wem, 1 fire engine from Shrewsbury, a foam unit from Tweedale, a four wheel drive from Minsterley and 3 officers.

Station Manager Adam Matthews, Incident Commander at the incident, said “First attending crews gathered information whilst awaiting the attendance of all specialist appliances.