FIREfighters on Teesside are heading a national drive to reduce fire deaths among elderly people.

Cleveland Fire Brigade has formed a three-brigade Government-funded project with Mersey and London brigades to share best practice skills and devise ways to protect and educate the over-60s against the risks of house fires.

They aim to help achieve a national target of a ten percent reduction in accidental fire deaths in the home by 2010.

Cleveland Fire Brigade, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and London Fire Brigade are all recognised as leaders in this field.

The partnership will introduce policies, projects and initiatives of use to other brigades as part of a national Making Safer Communities campaign.

Paul Joyce, Cleveland brigade's director of business development, said: "The aim of the partnership is to allow firefighters and staff working in the community to have an effective exchange of information and ideas, which will champion the issues surrounding fire safety and older people.''

More than 70 per cent of deaths in accidental fires in Britain each year occur in the over-60s age group.