A FIREFIGHTER, who was once in charge at Basingstoke fire station, has become the first Hampshire officer to clock up 50 years of service.

Martyn Long, 67, joined Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service in 1964, and was officer-in-charge at Basingstoke fire station in 1983 and 1984.

He has also served at Aldershot and Farnborough and is now a contingency planning officer for the service, working on cross-agency liaison for major emergencies.

Martyn was presented with a long-service medal by Chief Officer John Bonney, who said: “During 50 years of selfless service with HFRS, we have benefited enormously from Martyn’s experience and hard work.

“This is a real accolade to Martyn and I thank him for his dedicated commitment to the service.”

In his remarkable career, Martyn has dealt with some of the county’s major emergencies, such as the Winchester Guildhall fire in 1969, the Great Storm of 1987 and the Mobil Petrel tanker incident in 1989.

He said: “If anyone had suggested in 1964 that I would still be working for the fire service in 50 years, I would have laughed out loud. I left school aged 17 not knowing what career path I wanted to follow.

“I have had, and still have, many good friends in the service, and the various jobs have been hugely fulfilling and interesting. The service has been very good to me, and I do not regret joining all those years ago.”