Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service has been working in partnership with Marlborough College to support the development of the college’s cadet force.

Local firefighters have recently spent two afternoons with the cadets, working on skills that promote leadership, problem solving, communication and teamwork.

Group manager Dave Geddes said: “We developed the sessions to use basic firefighter skills to challenge these young people and get them working together to succeed.

"One session involved a form of obstacle course, and used pumps and hoses, while the other focused on a road traffic collision and casualty care.

“Although this initiative was aimed at developing the cadets’ skills, there were also some strong fire safety and road safety messages that came through, and this can only be of benefit to the wider college community.

"The sessions also helped to develop greater links between Marlborough College and the Fire & Rescue Service, and this may even lead to one of their students one day becoming a chief fire officer.”

Sean Bate, school staff instructor from the college, said that it had been at great opportunity for the cadets to work with and learn from professional firefighters.

He said: “They dealt with many different and difficult problems, especially on the road traffic collision exercise, which saw the cadets attempting to release three trapped simulated casualties from two separate vehicles.

"The cadets found themselves under extreme time pressure, using a dynamic risk assessment to formulate a plan.

"They were tested to the limits in verbal communications skills, planning and problem solving, whilst using a vast array of firefighting equipment in order to extract the casualties from the vehicles.

“This exercise was extremely useful for the cadets but also for the CCF staff here at Marlborough College Combined Cadet Forces, who were pleased to see some alternative leaders come to the fore.”