THE FAMILY of one of the firefighters who died in a Southampton tower block blaze are raising money in their memory.

Nearly three years after Alan Bannon and Jim Shears died in a fire in Shirley Towers Alan's widow Charlotte and his sister Lin want to help those who supported them after the tragedy.

The pair have come together as Team Bert - Alan's firefighter nickname - as they prepare for a daredevil climb down Portsmouth's Spinakker tower on  May 11 in aid of the Firefighters Charity.

Charlotte said this was to “give something back to the many people that helped us” after both firefighters died in April 2010.

“It has been difficult [since Alan's death] but the reason we're doing it is to say thank you to everyone. It wasn't just us that were affected that night it was Alan's and Jim's colleagues.

“The fire fighters charity supported us and supported all the firefighters that were there that night,” said Charlotte adding that she was “quite nervous” going up there.

The Firefighters Charity provide support to both serving and retired firefighters and fire safety personnel and their families.

Charlotte will be joined by her sister-in-law Lin who joined her sister in saying that more needs to be done to prevent what had happened that night when the fire fighters went into the burning building.

Charlotte said: “It does make me quite angry especially when some councillors make comments that are not well thought through. All we can do is campaign to make sure the recommendations made by the coroner are done.

“I think because it's a very emotive subject for us - this was my brother, Charlotte's husband.

"This was a father and a son. But it's not as an emotive subject for others in the country and therefore unless we get that personal feeling across to them I think they're going to sit back and think it's not going to happen to them, which is what we thought three years ago.”

The recommendations in fire safety are regarding fixtures to buildings, such as clips to over-head wires and straps to breathing apparatus to prevent injuries to firefighters.

To support Charlotte and Lin visit justgiving.com/teams/Bert or text the message Bert71 £xx (where xx is the amount you wish to donate) to 70070.