Fire service fails women

The service needs to spend £250,000 on its stations

An independent report into the fire service in Leicestershire has found it falls short of providing basic facilities for women.

The audit recommends a raft of changes - costing more than £250,000 - to make fire stations comply with gender and disability laws.

Under the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act, it is illegal to discriminate against women in the workplace.

Most fire stations in Leicestershire do have facilities for women but these are generally for individual use.

The majority of firefighters in the county are male, but the service wants to improve its facilities for women as it seeks to recruit more female firefighters.

Major work will include building female locker rooms with separate shower and toilet blocks.