A raft of improvements are set to be made at Dereham fire station, following a recommendation that Norfolk County Council allocate hundreds of thousands of pounds towards the project.

A first phase of upgrades in 2020-21 has already seen the building enjoy better technical storage space and accessibility improvements to its ground floor toilets.

At a Monday meeting of the council’s cabinet, members recommended the council allocate £434,000 to complete a second phase of upgrades.

“The facilities were in need of modernisation and improvement,” a county council spokesperson said.

According to the spokesperson, the planned second phase will “ensure the safety of all staff on site, with clearly defined areas for use by staff returning from operational incidents to be able to wash and change, reducing the risk of site contamination to the rest of the building after fires and other incidents.”

They added: “Making these changes will mean that in the future, different groups from within our service and the wider community could benefit from being on site, without compromising the safety of either operational crews or others working from or visiting the building.”