Empty homes provide fire practice

The bulldozers moved onto the estate on Thursday

Empty houses awaiting demolition on a Cheltenham estate will be used for firefighters' training exercises.

Gloucestershire Fire Service will send teams of firefighters into Crabtree Place to practice skills in dealing with smoke in a controlled environment.

Forty properties on the estate will be demolished as part of the St Paul's regeneration project.

"The chance to do some training in domestic premises is invaluable," said station commander Clive Webber.

New houses, road layouts and community areas are included in the plans for the estate.

Bulldozers moved on to the estate on Thursday.

The full demolition of the majority of properties on Crabtree Place is estimated to take three to four weeks.