A leading politician has praised staff at Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service after visiting their headquarters to learn how they are keeping children safe.

Yesterday (Wednesday) Shadow Education Minister, Bridget Phillipson MP, visited TWFRS to discover more about their educational input into their community.

Chief Fire Officer Chris Lowther spent time with Ms Phillipson discussing the work his fire service does in the community to educate the next generation.

That includes how they use diversionary tactics such as a Fire Station Community Boxing Hub to keep youngsters off the streets.

The service believe that these vital educational opportunities across their area help combat antisocial behaviour and deliberate fire setting.

After speaking to senior leaders about the challenges they are facing, Ms Phillipson was treated to a demonstration by TWFRS Fire Cadets at their Washington HQ.

And today (Thursday) CFO Lowther has thanked the Shadow Minister, who is also the MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, for her visit.

He said “It was a great opportunity to speak to Ms Phillipson about how we are working with young people to make our community safer.

“There are a number of fantastic programmes here in Tyne and Wear and our staff are doing some great work to positively impact young people’s lives.

“It has been a great opportunity to show Ms Phillipson first-hand how education and youth intervention is a key part of what the fire service do.

“I am proud to share our engagement story with Ms Phillipson as I know that staff at TWFRS will always go the extra mile for our community.

“I want to thank our cadets as well for their excellent demonstration of their firefighting skills, it’s a testament to their hard work and great attitude that our guest was so impressed.

“I want to thank the shadow minister for taking the time to learn more about the work we do.”

Speaking of her visit, Ms Phillipson said: “I’m very grateful to Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service for organising the visit.

“They are doing genuinely impressive work with young people from across our region.

“Young people need to leave education ready for work and ready for life and the fantastic programmes the Fire and Rescue Service run are good for young people, good for our fire service, and good for all our safety”

TWFRS offer a number of divisionary programmes including the Prince Trust ‘Team’ programme, their fire cadets, the Phoenix programme, and Juvenile Firesetter Educational Programme (JFEP).