Fire station turns to wind power

Firefighters in Richmond use solar panels to help generate power

A fire station in west London will become the first in the UK to get its own wind turbine on Wednesday.

The rooftop turbine is intended to produce 8% of electricity used by Hayes fire station.

Firefighters use a lot of electricity as they run a 24-hour-a-day service all year round. They are looking at various ways of reducing carbon emissions.

In 2005, Richmond station in south-west London became the first to get solar panels to help generate power.

'Key priority'

Val Shawcross, chairwoman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, said energy issues were a "key priority" for the fire brigade.

"The financial and environmental benefits to generating your own clean energy are clearly numerous," she said.

The wind turbine is designed to be connected to the local electricity grid and the fire brigade hope it will save them money, as well as helping the environment.

In October, Southwark Council in south London became the first London borough to approve plans for a domestic wind turbine.

Since then Conservative leader David Cameron has won planning permission from Kensington and Chelsea Council to put one up on his house.

His is thought to be one of 600 homes in the UK with a domestic wind turbine.