PLANS to bring fire crews back to an Isle of Wight town are taking a step in the right direction.

The Fire and Rescue Authority has agreed on capital funding for a new building at the East Cowes site.

This will not only serve as a base for the East Cowes on-call (retained) firefighters, but will also provide improved fleet maintenance facilities for the Island's fire vehicles.

The current Island Fleet and Equipment Maintenance Centre in Newport is in need of an upgrade, the fire authority has conceded.

It agrees a new purpose-built facility at East Cowes would provide better facilities for maintaining the service's modern vehicles.

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It will also have clean and dirty zones, and space for additional decontaminated equipment, to improve crew safety.

The Fire Authority has approved the proposals, with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) now working on site plans and talking to the local authority, with the aim of submitting a planning application by early next year.

Demolition of the existing building at the East Cowes site will start on Monday (September 30).

A spokesperson for HIWFRS said: "The safety of the community is our priority, and the current condition of the building means demolishing it now is the best course of action.

"Taking the building down will also be a helpful step towards making the site ready for its future redevelopment."

The East Cowes site was temporarily taken out of operation in May last year, due to health and safety risks associated with the building.

To maintain cover, the on-call crew has been travelling to Newport Fire Station to collect their fire engine and attend incidents.

The service is making efforts to relocate the fire engine to a temporary site in East Cowes, while planning and construction processes take place.

Jeff Walls, HIWFRS group manager for the Isle of Wight, said: "I am pleased we are on the road to being able to welcome back our on-call crew to an operational base in East Cowes.

"Our on-call firefighters are people whose sense of community has led them to serve and help protect people in their town — and across the Island — and we truly value the time they give, and the contribution they make, to keep people safe."