A PHOTOGRAPHER has been banned from taking pictures at fire stations across East Lancashire - more than three years after he was warned to stay away from accident scenes.

Peter Olive, 65, is also said to have told one charity organiser that he takes photographs for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph - even though he does not work for this newspaper.

In 1995 Mr Olive, of Mountain Lane, Accrington, was warned off accident scenes by the police and the ambulance service after complaints were made about his conduct.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph revealed how he set himself up as a "volunteer paramedic" with specialist equipment and drove his red BMW complete with emergency siren and a flashing light. Police inquiries revealed that his only recognised medical qualification was a basic first aid certificate.

He was also banned from travelling in the Lancashire Police helicopter after an unsuccessful attempt to fly with the crew to an emergency.

Now Mr Olive has been banned by Lancashire Fire Service from taking photographs at fire stations.

Olwyn Keogh, organiser of the Blackburn-based Friends of Chernobyl Children's Charity, said Mr Olive turned up at her Wilpshire home last week asking if he could photograph the entire visit of the latest group of Chernobyl children, which would involve dozens of events.

She said he told her he was an "official photographer who does work for the Evening Telegraph and London publications."

Mrs Keogh said she did not give him permission to cover the visit, but said he told her he would still probably turn up at the events anyway. The following day he turned up at Darwen Fire Station as a party of the Chernobyl youngsters were visiting. Mrs Keogh said she telephoned the fire station to alert them that Mr Olive would turn up and he was asked to leave.

Last month Mr Olive was also asked to leave Accrington Playgroup, in Laneside Avenue, after he turned up uninvited to an Easter event it was holding for the youngsters.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire Service said Mr Olive had now been banned from taking pictures on an of their premises.

He said: "Mr Olive was initially given permission by ourselves to take pictures at Darwen fire station. But that was before we knew about his past.

"Mrs Keogh telephoned Darwen fire station to tell us that Mr Olive may turn up. When he did turn up we asked him to leave.

"The emergency services attract interest and that is understandable, but the interest from some individuals is too intensive and that can be a hindrance."

Peter Butterfield, editor of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, today moved to distance this newspaper from the activities of Mr Olive.

He said: "I would like to stress that this man has absolutely no connection with the Evening Telegraph.

"If he approaches any organisation or group claiming that he takes pictures for the Evening Telegraph then people should contact us immediately." A spokesman for the National Union of Journalists confirmed that Mr Olive had been a member of the NUJ for a "few years."

Today Mr Olive denied saying he did some work for the Evening Telegraph. He said he regularly submitted pictures to Photofusion, a London picture library, which specialises in social documentary photographs.

Mr Olive said he was an established freelance photographer and had had his work published in several newspapers and magazines, including the Guardian and Financial Times. He also said he had worked as a freelance for Associated Press in the Middle East for three years in the 1970s.

He said he found it "strange" that the fire service had banned him from taking pictures at their stations and said he had been given permission by Lancashire Fire Service to go to Darwen Fire Station.

He said: "When I turned up at the station one of the fire officers allowed me in, but I was asked to leave by one of the charity workers. My partner Frances later received a call from Mrs Keogh to say she did not want me to take pictures of the Chernobyl children so I left it.

"There is no reason why I would say I work for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. When I went to Mrs Keogh's house she gave me a timetable of events and she did not say she did not want me to take photographs.

"If I turn up at an event and people do not want me to take pictures then I always leave. I am semi retired and do social documentary photography for London agencies and I always point out that I am not from the local paper. "It is not a money-making exercise. I love taking pictures and it is more of a hobby. It is therapeutic."

He refused to talk about the events which led to him being warned off by police and the ambulance service in 1995.

On Monday the Evening Telegraph took pictures of a helmet with "Rescue" written on it which was on the back seat of Mr Olive's car along with a collection of bright yellow garments.

Mr Olive said it was a safety helmet which had been given to him recently while the yellow garments were simply a collection of coats.

Liz Somerville, manager of Photofusion, said Mr Olive had submitted pictures to the agency for more than two and a half years and there had been no complaints about his conduct.

She said: "We do not commission work. Photographers submit pictures and if they are used they receive 50 per cent of the reproduction fee."

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