LANCASHIRE’S chief fire officer Chris Kenny has announced he will retire at the end of April .

The 59-year-old said that after six years in the job and glowing inspection report on the service in December, the time had come to step down.

Cllr Frank De Molfetta, chair of the Lancashire Fire Authority, said: “I have a long and well-founded appreciation of Chris’s exceptional qualities.”

Mr Kenny joined the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service in 2000 to take charge of its Chorley training centre after 22 years with its Merseyside equivalent.

He rose through its managerial ranks becoming chief fire officer in Ocber 2012.

Mr Kenny said: “After careful consideration I now believe the time is right for me to retire.

“From a Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service perspective it is an opportune point.

“The finances are relatively stable, as much as they can be in these uncertain times and the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate has independently confirmed our belief that we are the best fire and rescue service they have inspected to date.

“I have completed 40 years, roughly split between Lancashire and Merseyside.

“I am in my seventh year as chief fire officer covering what has arguably been the most difficult period in the service’s history.

“I would rather go out now rather than peter out like a damp squib, and it would be nice to do that before I am 60 later in the year.

“There is plenty still to do, we are far from perfect, the challenges we have faced and the savings we have had to make come with a consequence. However compared to other Fire and Rescue Services,or for that matter other parts of the public sector, we are well placed.

Cllr De Molfettta said:“On behalf of the fire authority, I wish Chris the very best for a long and happy retirement and offer our profound thanks for his immense contribution to the public good.”