Kevin Dickens is lovingly restoring one of Marlborough’s former fire engines that his late grandfather Jack Bull served on in Marlborough from 1967 to 1984.

Mr Dickens, 23, works in on the meat and bread counter in Waitrose in Marlborough but, when he is not serving customers, he can be found with oily hands getting the old fire engine running again.

He wants to restore the vehicle, which he bought in a dilapidated state after years of neglect, and take it around county shows.

Former fire officers have told him that the HCB Angus fire engine on a Bedford TK chassis with the registration JWV 895F was a bit slow and sluggish to drive – and didn’t stop very well either.

Nevertheless, Mr Dickens jumped at the chance of buying JWV – as it has become known– because of its family connections.

His grandfather Jack Bull frequently went out on JWV while serving in Marlborough and Mr Dickens recognised it from photographs in an old family album.

The fire engine was sold by Wiltshire Fire Brigade in 1984 to a collector who subsequently sold it to a butterfly farm in Dorset.

There it became a children’s attraction but, when the butterfly farm hit financial difficulties, the engine was sold again, this time to a couple from Yeovil.

Mr Dickens, of Rogers Meadow, Marlborough, takes up the story.

“After many years of sitting under a tarpaulin, JWV was put up for sale in the summer of 2007 when I had some cash saved from my Waitrose bonus,” he said.

“Having worked on a 1959 Fordson Dexta tractor with my dad and spending many weekends at steam fairs around the South West, I was considering buying a vintage tractor.”

But his plans changed after his father, Rob, spotted the word “Marlborough” on an item offered for sale on the Internet auction site eBay.

He realised that the fire engine in question had seen service in the town and had family links.

Kevin Dickens said: “It was in a sorry state but, with the direct link to my grandfather and also the town, I placed a bid on it.

“After a few days of nervous waiting, I was delighted to find that I had won the Bedford.”

Some of the fire crew who served with the engine, including George Johnson and Alan Smith, have been able to fill-in Mr Dickens with details of when it was in service.

Mr Dickens, who is restoring the brakes at present, said it will still be a year or two before JWV is ready for the road again.