Attacks on firefighters reduced

Attacks on fire crews in Northern Ireland have fallen over the past year, latest figures reveal.

There were 285 reported attacks in 2007 compared to 342 the previous year. NI counts incident numbers rather than the actual number of firefighters attacked.

The figure represents one in seven of all such incidents in the UK.

Jim Quinn from the Fire and Rescue Service said efforts to involve local communities in dealing with the problem seemed to be making a difference.