A CAMPAIGN to reduce fires in the home over the festive season created by a Pershore High School pupil will be piloted in his home town.

Robert Shepherd, aged 15, of Pershore, worked alongside two other pupils to create a campaign aimed at reducing the number of accidental fires in homes over the Christmas period.

Toby Slim, aged 14, from Trinity High School in Redditch, worked with Robert and Maisie Holmes, also 14, from Kingsley College in Redditch on the safety project.

They decided to target their campaign at the older, more vulnerable age group of 65-plus and produced posters and an oven safety leaflet as well as contacting various venues in Pershore asking them to display their work.

The students then presented their campaign to staff at the fire service headquarters and it was such a success that they were then invited back to present it to their school head teachers, work experience coordinators and senior managers.

Station Commander Alan Haley said: “Working with Toby, Robert and Maisie presented a fantastic opportunity for us as an organisation to get a totally fresh perspective on the challenges we face from members of the very community we are striving to protect.

“In return, I feel that we, as a fire service, offered the students an opportunity to work in a high-profile, quality area of the public sector and produce a real piece of work in the knowledge that they will ultimately make a positive difference to the communities in which they live.”