The cause of Radlett Fire Station's shortage of staff lies right under its firefighters' noses.

The back of the Watling Street station which depends on people who work and live locally to respond to emergency calls looks out over a train station car park packed with commuters' vehicles.

The limited number of people working locally means the fire station struggles to provide fire cover during office hours, and only has eight retained firefighters, compared to similar stations on the continent which have around 40.

On occasions, the station has not been able to respond to calls in Radlett, because it has lacked the minimum three firefighters needed to man the engine, forcing stations further away, like Borehamwood and Garston, to attend the fires on its doorstep.

But this week Station Commander Tony Smith launched a drive to recruit more Radlett workers and residents as retained firefighters.

He said: "We were the third station to be called to the Potters Bar rail disaster, but we were unable to attend because of the lack of personnel."

Retained firefighters are fully trained, like full-time firefighters, to give first aid, tackle fires, rescue people from cars and deal with other incidents, and must attend at least half of emergency calls. They receive around £2,000 per year, plus £15 per call-out.

The station dealt with 337 calls last year, of which half were false alarms and half were road accidents, cover for other stations and small fires. When Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service receives a 999 call, it sends a signal to the firefighters' pagers. Firefighters who can attend have four minutes to get to the station.

The station is urging women to consider joining its crew, which includes a hydrant inspector, a steam-cleaner operator, a fence-builder and managers for the National Health Service and British Telecom.

Mr Smith, a full-time firefighter at Garston, said when a call was received it was exciting, and the responding crew worked closely as a team and got satisfaction from helping people and contributing to the community.

Anyone interested in applying to become a retained firefighter is asked to call Station Officer Mark Cheshire on 01727 818904.