THE number of fire engines in the county fitted with emergency life-saving equipment is expected to increase within the year.

Proposals to fit 14 fire appliances with specialist cutting equipment to enable them to attend road traffic accidents are being considered by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority on Wednesday.

If the proposals are implemented, the authority will increase the number of engines equipped with the specialist extraction equipment by ten, meaning the time taken to respond to a serious accident could be reduced significantly.

At present, the authority has four emergency tenders fitted with hydraulic cutters and spreading tools, which are essential to rescue people trapped inside vehicles.

Those tenders are at Ripon, Malton, Tadcaster and Skipton.

Deputy chief fire officer Nigel Hutchinson said: "This enhances the service provided in the critical first 30 minutes of an accident."

He said the authority chose the most suitable locations for the enhanced equipment based on road traffic accident attendance during the past two years.

Stations chosen to receive the equipment include York, Scarborough, Richmond, Northallerton and Harrogate.

The delivery and fitting of the equipment, along with the training of the crews, means the equipment would not be operational before September at the earliest.

Mr Hutchinson said: "At the end of the changeover, local service to accidents will be enhanced by the more timely arrival of specialist cutting equipment."

"Consequently, this represents a significant enhancement in protection to the public when compared with the current provision of four emergency tenders."

Of the four tenders already in operation, the authority plans to dispose of two and upgrade the others to major rescue unit status by next month.

They will have enhanced cutting gear and be crewed by personnel from fire stations in Tadcaster and Ripon.