FIREFIGHTERS in Chippenham are urging people to be on their guard after a series of callers have been ringing residents, offering them bogus fire safety advice.

The callers have been claiming to represent Wiltshire Fire Brigade and have offered people home safety checks, but when residents questioned them for more identification, the callers hung up.

Leading firefighter, Jack Nicholson said: "We had a number of reports to the station of someone calling pretending to be a fire officer, mainly in the west of the town.

"The caller was trying to make appointments to come and offer the person fire safety advice.

"This is beginning to turn into a worrying trend, and we need to stop it spreading, so we must make sure everyone out there is aware of the bogus callers and the fact that real fire officers simply would never make cold calls."

The callers are understood to have targeted the Canterbury Street area, and if people are in any doubt about the authenticity of the caller, they are being advised to call the police immediately.

Community fire safety now makes up around 25 per cent of firefighters' work, and when they are making community calls, official Wiltshire Fire Brigade staff will carry identification cards, which people can ask them to produce on the doorstep if they want to be sure they are who they say they are.

West Wiltshire community fire safety officer Mike Jenkins said: "We are concerned about the legitimacy of the callers.

"We do not 'cold call' by telephone offering such services.

"The only time Fire Brigade personnel will 'cold call' is if there has been a fire in your street, when we will be carrying out our policy of re-visiting an area and offering advice."