AFTER years of dedication Grassington's firefighters are preparing for a station upgrade which sees its status boosted from voluntary to retained on March 1.

Crew members, who hold down full-time jobs in the community, will be paid up to £2,500 a year to provide round-the-clock cover for the Upper Wharfedale area.

Grassington's firemen are trained as rigorously as full-time staff but are paid a set fee for duties they complete including attending incidents, fire safety work and training. Now they will receive a retained fee as well.

Lead firefighter at Grassington, Andrew Howick said: "We are all very pleased. It's what we have been working towards for the past 10 years. We are happy it's going to be a full blown full-time fire station."

In future, the Grassington crew will not have to rely on backup from Skipton when responding to emergency calls. This will reduce the pressure on Skipton firefighters.

Grassington crew manager Peter Merrell said officers at Skipton had been very supportive.

He added: "If there is an incident between Grassington and Skipton we can have one equipped appliance coming from both ends.

"Any incident occurring further up the Dales now means an appliance doesn't have to come from Skipton or Settle. This will leave Skipton more freed up."

The existing fire engine will be replaced with a new appliance, which will be equipped with specialist cutting machinery. This will enable the fully trained Grassington crew to respond to road traffic collisions.

Craven's group manager Dave Winspear said: "We are delighted. Grassington has been working very hard to get themselves in a position to be upgraded."

Speaking about the crew, he added: "They have been attending fires and incidents for a long time and have a growing wealth of experience."

The Grassington crew will be paid a retained annual fee of between £1,875 and £2,500 for providing from 75 per cent to 100 per cent availability to the station.

As well as gaining retained status, firefighters in Grassington could be rehoused. At present they operate from a portable cabin, but plans are under way to move to a more permanent home.

Anyone is interested in joining the fire crew should contact Dave Winspear or Simon Render on 01756 692560.