ONE of the longest-serving firefighters in Cumbria has hung up his hat after nearly 50 years of incredible service.

Bootle Fire Station watch manager John Bradley completed his final shift last night after 47 years in Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service.

The 69-year-old, who also works part-time as a builder and joiner, attributed age for his decision to retire.

He said: “I had plans to finish at 55 then thought I’d go for a bit longer which turned into 14 more years. I said before Christmas that I was going to go before I turned 70.”

Mr Bradley has attended hundreds of incidents across his near five decades of service and is estimated to have saved dozens of lives throughout that time.

Attending road traffic collisions is just some of the work firefighters carry out, which Mr Bradley labels as one of ‘the most difficult areas’.

The former watch manager attended the fatal crashes of both Skye Mitchell and, most recently, Ted Southward, both of whose fathers are also retained firefighters.

“They were two of the hardest incidents I’ve ever had to attend,” Mr Bradley said.

“You always look back and think could I have done anything different and, if it happens again, what can we put into place. We’re constantly reviewing everything all the time.”

Mr Bradley has been dispatched across West Cumbria throughout his 47 years of service, including to Millom, Barrow, Whitehaven and Flimby.

He said the service had undergone significant changes since he first joined.

“We had yellow leggings when I first started,” Mr Bradley said.

“Now we get all the proper gear and boots so it’s a lot safer. There’s been a lot of changes.

“We definitely attend more road traffic collisions now than we used to. There’s always that fear when you attend a RTC that it may be someone you know which can make things more difficult.

“Either way we’re always trying to do our best to get the person out and save their life – that’s our job.”

A ceremony was held at Bootle Fire Station on Wednesday night when Mr Bradley was presented with a plaque to commemorate his decades of service.