Fire bosses stand against BNP ban

A move to ban members of the British National Party (BNP) from serving with a fire service has been shelved.

Dorset's chief fire officer Martin Chapman told a meeting of the local fire authority that members of the party should not join the service.

On Monday, the authority decided not to adopt a statement that the service should ban BNP members.

David Fox, authority chairman, said the authority did not want to single out a legal political party.

Mr Fox said: "The policies and values of the BNP are incompatible with those of the fire authority but we did not wish people to think that we had singled out one political party when that party has not been outlawed."

The authority did adopt a new race equality scheme to combat discrimination.

"We want to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between people from different racial groups," Mr Fox added.