Burwell’s new fire station was officially opened today (Monday).

The ribbon was cut by the chairman of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority, Sir Peter Brown, and chief fire officer Graham Stagg.

The new station is located a short distance from the former station in Reach Road, and includes a purpose built on-site training facility.

Sir Peter said: “This new station is a significant improvement on the old facilities. Firefighters can now maintain their skills on-site rather than having to travel to another location, meaning more time can be spent harnessing their techniques.

“As a service we are passionate about providing the best possible service to the residents of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, which is why it is a real positive that we continue to invest in new equipment for operational firefighters.”

The construction work was carried out by SEH French and project managed by Ingleton Wood. The project cost around £1 million.

Mr Stagg added: “Investing in our on-call service, particularly in the rural areas of the county, is hugely important to us and we are thrilled to see the fire engine driving out of the doors of this new station.

“We rely heavily on local communities to crew our fire engines and are always looking to recruit staff to join our on-call service.

“With these fantastic new facilities available now is a great time for Burwell residents to get in touch with us to find out more about becoming on-call firefighters.”

An agreement between Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service and Cambridgeshire County Council, under the making assets count programme, enabled the identified piece of land in Reach Road to be used to build the new fire station.

The former fire station building is being refurbished for business use and will be merged with Cambridgeshire County Council’s ex-depot site to help offset the land made available for the new station and create jobs.