Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) claimed four prestigious awards at this year's Festival of Rescue.

Hosted in Lincolnshire, the UK Rescue Organisation's annual competition saw approximately 40 fire and rescue services from the UK and beyond competing in five disciplines; vehicle extraction, heavy vehicle rescue, trauma care, water rescue and rope rescue.

Northumberland achieved exceptional results, earning the title of Best Overall Water Rescue Team and Best Overall Incident Commander for Water Rescue, as well as taking second place for the Best Helm of a Boat and another second place for the Heavy Vehicle Rescue Challenge.

Joe Haustead, Area Manager for NFRS, said: “This was an absolutely fantastic achievement for us, considering we were competing against the very best fire and rescue teams from across the UK.

“The exercises were carried out in front of a live audience and are a demonstration of the skill and precision with which our firefighters carry out their work.

“And while they may have been scenarios, these are exactly the kind of incidents our crews train for and deal with throughout the year – 24/7, and we feed all that learning and best practice back into the service so our communities can be assured we have highly skilled water and vehicle rescue teams right across Northumberland.

“I’m extremely proud of every single one of the team, demonstrating professionalism and experience of the highest level and once again being outstanding ambassadors from NFRS and Northumberland County Council.”