EMERGENCY service chiefs are celebrating the completion of work on a new fire station.

Firefighters could attend their first call-out in July from the base, near York.

Proposals for the Clifton station, on the York outer ring road, sparked controversy when they were mooted.

Residents of Huntington and New Earswick had voiced concerns over the loss of greenbelt land.

But fire service bosses insisted the site was the best for the station, as crews were struggling to meet response times in Haxby, Wigginton and Strensall, as well as Monks Cross and Clifton Moor.

Fifteen part-time firefighters started training earlier this month and will initially shadow experienced crew members from other stations in York.

Assistant divisional officer Jez Rushworth, in charge of the new station, said yesterday that the retained firefighters, who must live within a mile, or five-minute drive, of the complex, were quickly recruited.

"We have 15 who have started training and eight on the waiting list," he said.

One appliance would be based at the station and operated by a crew of five on each call-out, he said.

The station was built alongside a new training complex for firefighters, both made possible through a private finance initiative (PFI).

It was one of the first PFIs in the country and designated as a flagship scheme by the Government.

The Easingwold training centre replaces an outdated facility at Ripon.

Mr Rushworth said it was likely to be next April or May before the new batch of firefighters would be tackling blazes on their own, although the date could alter depending on their progress.

The service had always planned for part-time firefighters to be based at Clifton, although the building had been designed to accommodate full-time crews, if circumstances changed.