HAMPSHIRE and Isle of Wight fire services have been praised for their response to the coronavirus pandemic following an inspection.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has highlighted the way both services have adapted and responded to the crisis in order to fulfil their core role of protecting the public.

During the inspection, it was found that Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) and the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (IWFRS) had up-to-date plans that understood the risks a pandemic presented and were able to continue to carry out Safe & Well visits and fire safety audits whilst remaining COVID-19 safe.

Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin said: “I am proud of the part our services have played in supporting partners and the wider community throughout the pandemic.

“We have maintained full fire and rescue cover in all corners of the county and on the Island, and have not only delivered our services, but we have reached much further to make life safer for our communities.

“We will now continue to play our part across the communities we serve and are ready to assist in whatever ways we can.”

Firefighters and other staff volunteered outside of their normal day-to-day roles to take part in additional work to support the response in tackling coronavirus.

It included HFRS giving fire safety advice for the new Nightingale hospitals and delivering shopping to vulnerable people.

The inspection found that the overall availability of fire engines in HFRS was better during the pandemic than it was during the same period last year.

The services continued to successfully promote fire safety despite the changing circumstances, with HFRS providing safety programmes for young people online. Two new Fire Cadets schemes were also set up.

Between April 1 and June 30, 2020, the service’s average overall fire engine availability was 85.9% compared with 80.3% during the same period in 2019. In the same period, the IWFRS engine availability was 87.8 per cent.