Leicestershire's new £11m headquarters is opened
A multi-million pound headquarters for Leicestershire fire service has been officially opened.
The ribbon was cut on the state-of-the-art building on Wednesday by the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Jennifer, Lady Gretton.
The £11m building in Birstall houses both the county's headquarters and a new station.
Chief fire and rescue officer Dave Webb said he was delighted with the facilities.
"As technology has developed and the way we work has changed, we recognised that to plan for the future we needed an environmentally friendly and economically viable building," he said.
The Birstall Fire and Rescue Station, part of the same facility, will replace the emergency cover currently provided from Syston and will be staffed with full time firefighters.
This will ensure that permanent firefighters will be available for an immediate response to emergency incidents, the service said.
The service added that the building, started in January last year, was on time and on budget.