A vital rescue service set up in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the USA has been saved.
Earlier this year there were fears the Norfolk Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR), based at Dereham Fire Station, was facing the axe after the Home Office signalled it could withdraw government funding.
But the service has now been granted a reprieve, with a budget secured for another two years.
Ceri Sumner, Norfolk Fire and Rescue's chief fire officer, said: “The USAR team is not only a part of our service here in Norfolk, but a key asset for our entire region, and we welcomed the news the Home Office funding is to continue.”
USAR is on alert to respond to major incidents, including terror attacks, chemical incidents, flooding, water rescues, traffic incidents, coastal erosion, building collapses and more.
The team was called upon to help after the US helicopter crash at Cley Marshes in 2014, and was part of the response to the Second World War bomb found in Great Yarmouth in February.
William Richmond, Norfolk county councillor for Dereham North, said locals were "very pleased" the service was staying in the town.
He said: "The USAR Team includes full-time firefighters and technicians split into two watches, providing cover 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."
Mid-Norfolk MP George Freeman was among a group that visited Dereham Fire Station on Friday to meet and congratulate the team.
Mr Freeman said: “This Norfolk Urban Search and Rescue Hub in Dereham is a national hub of specialist people and equipment for supplying the fire and rescue service with search and rescue in all environments from fire to flood, underwater to high rise and rubble.
"My message to the home office ministers is that this is a piece of critical Norfolk rescue capacity for the whole of the east which we need to maintain here in Norfolk for the safety of us all.”
READ MORE - Photo gallery: Behind the scenes with the Norfolk Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team
The service relies on £830,000 in government funding each year, and it also receives £100,000 from the county council.
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