A PRESTON action group, that has been blighted by arson attacks over the years, has welcomed the appointment of a new community firefighter to cover the Ingol and Tanterton areas.

Former professional footballer Paul Gardner has kicked off his soccer boots in favour of his new firefighter role aimed at educating people on fire safety and the dangers of hoax calls.

Paul, 45, has sixteen years firefighting experience under his belt as well as a collection of Football Association coaching certificates.

Now the former Blackpool FC player intends to put these to good use by working in schools and youth centres to develop the talents of future Ricardo Fullers.

"I love getting out there and meeting people and would hope that anyone interested will contact me," said Paul, who takes up the job for six months initially. "I've rescued people from some terrible situations and hope that this project will highlight that incidents can be avoided."

Based at the fire service's Fulwood headquarters, Paul is the second person to take on a community firefighter role in Preston following the success of a similar scheme in Avenham.

The project has been welcomed by Ingol and Tanterton Action Group after their centre in Kidsgrove was targeted by fire bugs in February in the latest arson attack which left the kitchen and ground floor of the building destroyed.

Allan Clinch from the group, said: "This is excellent news. We are delighted and this can only improve the situation in Ingol with regards to fires and arson.

"Paul has a lot of qualifications and has already been down to the centre twice to work on the play scheme that we are currently running."

The post has been funded by the Building Safer Communities Fund and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service with a view to extending the scheme if funding becomes available.