LOCAL Government Minister Nick Raynsford has joined firefighters to offer safety advice.

Mr Raynsford visited the Hartlepool home of Marian Savage, where he heard from Station Officer Neil Rowland about fire safety checks.

He watched firefighters check electrical sockets and smoke alarms.

He said: "Hopefully, we can prevent fires by carrying out fire safety preparation - all of this is crucial to fire safety and hopefully will reduce the number of deaths.

"The fire brigade responds very quickly to fires, but sometimes people are asleep and do not have a smoke alarm, so do not know a fire has broken out in their home.

"They then sleep through the fire and by the time firefighters have been alerted, it can be too late."

Mr Raynsford was accompanied by chairman of Cleveland Fire Authority Councillor Keith Leonard and vice-chairman Councillor Robbie Payne.