Decorative decline
Firefighters have had to refuse a request to take down a town's festival bunting because of stringent health and safety rules.
The crews of Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service are trained in climbing ladders to extinguish flames and save people from burning buildings, but when it came to clearing decorations from Ampthill's Gala Day they had to refuse.
In previous years the local brigade has pitched in, but this year it said no after being told it must first conduct a risk assessment.
The deputy chief fire officer said: "One is a 999 job, where in order to save lives we will take calculated risks. The other is a property maintenance job, which is covered by standard health and safety rules, which we would have to abide by."
Daily Telegraph (David Harling)
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