Chippenham Fire Brigade has a new, state-of-the-art fire engine. The emergency support unit has heavy rescue hydraulic equipment for accidents involving heavy goods vehicles and incidents such as rail crashes.

The engine also carries decontamination equipment to clear hazardous substances and has a working platform which can be set up around heavy goods vehicles to make rescues easier.

Sub Officer Dave Jacomb said: "It has been a great use already and it has a larger crew cab so we can now have more manpower at incidents. The team is very pleased with it."

The equipment is so advanced firefighters needed more training to use them.

"The fire officers have had extra training above and beyond what they normally do, to bring them up to speed with how to use the new appliance," said SO Jacomb.

It is one of four units to be placed at stations across Wiltshire.

"There is also one at Salisbury now and soon they will be introducing ones at Westlea and Trowbridge, which will mean there will be complete coverage of the whole county," said SO Jacomb.

"The old unit was 13 years old and so it was really at the end of its service life.

"We set up a working party 18 months ago and explored what we needed and put some designs together with Mercedes Benz and John Dennis Coach Builders."