FIREFIGHTERS are attending English classes to teach migrant workers about fire safety.

Fire brigade leaders estimate more than 500 manual workers from countries like Poland, Lithuania and Estonia have settled in Nelson and Colne in recent times.

And the new arrivals, who are believed to mainly work in the food and packaging industries, have little or no fire safety knowledge, according to Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.

So firefighters, backed by community safety officers, have been attending English classes at Nelson and Colne College in a bid to drive their message home.

In a report to the county's fire authority, an official says: "Evidence suggests that many of these have little awareness with regard to fire safety, are living in accommodation where fire risk is a real issue and many have little or no command of the English language. "These circumstances place many of this group in the vulnerable category with regard to fire safety."

The students are given a fire safety lecture, under the direction of the tutor, and advice literature is handed out.

Staff have also been on hand to help Eastern European nationals to fill out home fire safety forms.

College tutors have also staged training days for more than a dozen fire service trainees, to ensure the scheme is a success.