BUCKINGHAMSHIRE and Milton Keynes Fire Authority is to build its own training centre in an attempt to attract more local people into the service.

The service wants to expand the fire station in Stanbridge Road, Haddenham, and turn it into a training centre.

The brigade currently has to send staff to a centre in the Cotswolds for 16 weeks of training.

Chief fire officer Jeff Goddard said: "I hope that by having a local facility, it will encourage more Buckinghamshire people, especially women to apply to become firefighters."

He added: "Our new training school will allow all recruits to go home in the evening, therefore creating less stress for those with families."

Plans for the centre include expanding the current fire engine bay for a training vehicle and extending current facilities. The cost will be £750,000 with a further £100,000 from the developer.

But this will be recouped through long-term savings from not having to send officers to other brigades.

Mr Goddard added that training local officers at the new centre would enable the service to retain recruits and also save money.

The brigade has already approached Haddenham Community Junior School, Woodways, which has playing fields adjacent to the station. The fire service wants to buy some of the grounds as part of their plans.

The Government is keen to retain school playing fields but the acting headteacher Lois Crane has no objection to selling the land, saying it did not interfere with the playing area.

She added: "There were rumours that the fire station might go if it wasn't used as a training centre so it was also for the good of the community."

Any decision to sell the land has to be ratified by the Department for Education and Employment.