A NEW Chief took over Berkshire's fire service this week.

Yesterday Trevor Ferguson assumed the role of Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive at the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) following Andy Fry's standing down on Friday.

Previously Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Mr Ferguson transferred from Northern Ireland in 2014 and has 26 years of experience in the Service.

He said: “It’s a huge privilege which I’m really excited about it but it’s also a huge responsibility which I don’t underestimate, overall I’d say I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

 “This is a great organisation which does an excellent  job serving the community of Royal Berkshire.

"I’m really excited about working with the amazing people and teams within the organisation to maximise the positive impact we can have for our communities and to ensure that we enable people to live safe and fulfilling lives across the county.

 “The Fire Authority has just made some major decisions on how the Service will be delivered in the future and I’m very keen to work collaboratively with our staff, our communities and partners to deliver on their decisions.”

Mr Ferguson assumes the role in a period of relative turmoil for RBFRS and a week after it was announced Pangbourne fire station was to close.

Pressing issues for the new chief will be whether or not to close Wargrave fire station in a year's time, continuing with plans to cut £2.4 million from the service's budget and the opening of a new community station in Theale.