THE traditional fireman's pole has been banned from a £2.4 million station because it posed a "health and safety hazard".

Firefighters instead have to run down the stairs of the newly built three-storey Greenbank Fire Station in Plymouth, Devon, raising concerns that vital seconds will be lost on their way to an emergency call.

Ken Mulville, a station officer, said: "It is ludicrous - we were all flabbergasted to find we will have to run down the stairs now.

"It takes about half a second to slide down a pole and at least 20 seconds to run down two flights of stairs.

"In more than 30 years I have seen one or two accidents on poles compared to tens of accidents with people tripping on stairs while responding to incidents."

CONTINUED...........

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1134052006

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