15146/1Mark Griffin, Wootton Bassett fire station's new sub officer, is hoping that restarting the station's social club will help bring in new recruits.

SO Griffin, 37, of Byron Avenue, wants the weekly club, which is on the site of the station and includes a bar, to become active once again so that it can also be used for fund-raising activities and functions.

SO Griffin said: "My wife Dawn is helping and I want the club to help attract the community so that people know that we're still here and what we're doing."

The father-of-four was promoted at the beginning of January after seven years' service and took over from Colin Lawrence. SO Griffin works as a machine operator at civil engineering company Westmode in Swindon.

He said: "My role is to check that all the blokes are getting the right sort of training and to keep an eye on the general running of the station.

"At the moment we've got eight firefighters although we should have 14 so I'll be looking to get us up to full strength again."

Anyone interested in becoming a retained, part-time firefighter or finding out more should visit Wootton Bassett Fire Station on Monday training nights between 7.30pm and 9.30pm.