JOINING forces in memory of their fallen colleagues, members of Hampshire’s emergency services took over Southampton’s Oceana nightclub last night to pay tribute to firefighters Alan Bannon and James Shears.

Members of the police, fire and ambulance services came together for a night of dancing and fundraising in honour of the Southampton firefighters at an event to strengthen the ties between the organisations.

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The charity evening in Oceana’s Ice House room planned to raised thousands of pounds for the appeal set up to help support the families of the two St Mary’s firefighters who died fighting the blaze at Shirley Towers.

Organised by PC Gary Morgan from Portswood police station, the night brought hundreds of people together for drinks and dancing and also included a charity auction.

“We have had great support in organising the night with some great prizes from people who wanted to help out,” said Gary.

“I think every one of us knows that what happened could have happened to any of us on an emergency call if things go bad.

“We want to celebrate the teamwork between the 999 services and build some more bridges with our colleagues and people have been eager to support this appeal.”

Among the prizes on offer were signed and framed football memorabilia from sporting icons including Sir Geoff Hurst and Gary Lineker, iconic football kits including Alan Shearer’s first Newcastle strip, Wayne Bridge’s Manchester City shirt from a recent derby against Manchester United, an FA Cup final football, a 2008 Portsmouth football shirt and a signed Saints shirt.

Gary said the night would be the first in a return of previous “999 nights” that helped build the solidarity of the different services across Hampshire.