FIREFIGHTERS, police and council officers are taking an intensive 10-week course in Polish to help them communicate with migrant workers.

And they are also being joined by members of the Polish community who are learning English.

Geoff Hudson, Burnley fire station's community fire safety officer, said: "The idea came from a meeting with an officer at the police station about the Polish community and from that came the course.

"During the course, the Polish do an hour of English, then we do half an hour together and finally the English learn Polish for an hour.

"We thought it would be a good idea because fire officers are having a problem communicating with the Polish community so they are learn-ing basic phrases to get round it.

"It has been an interesting course and has been going pretty well.

"The Poles are really grateful and there's been an excellent response."

The Wednesday night courses have attracted about 30 people and Mr Hudson is hoping to set up another 10-week stint to improve language skills even further.

Last year, bosses produced a phrases card for Lancashire's firefighters to aid communication with Polish people.

However, the language classes in Burnley are among the first of their kind in the county.

Blackburn watch manager Andy Barnes said firefighters at his station had not taken Polish lessons but added: "Anything that helps communication with the public would certainly be useful.

"A lot of Poles in Blackburn already speak good English so communication has not been a big issue for us, but it is always good to be able to exchange a few words in their native language."

Unofficial estimates have put the number of migrant workers who have come to Lancashire since 2004 at around 50,000.

According to figures released last year, 900 Polish people are registered to work in East Lancashire: 300 in Blackburn, 250 in Hyndburn and 180 in Pendle.

Polish communities are said to be instinctively suspicious of any uniformed services due to experiences in their homeland.

This was the motivating factor behind the production of the phrase card last year.