JANINE Chadwick will be joining the ranks at Bolton fire station to become the first woman firefighter in the town.

The Westhoughton firefighter was among three women in Greater Manchester who have passed an intense training course with flying colours.

Their success means the Greater Manchester Fire Service now boasts four women firefighters -- which is still far short of the seven per cent which has been set down as a target by the Home Office. Janine will be based at Bolton Central Fire Station, on Moor Lane, alongside other new recruits Martin Brocklehurst, of Breightmet, and Gary Cartwright from Bolton.

Another Bolton firefighter, Nicholas McCormick, has also just taken part in a passing out parade and will be based at Broughton station.

The 12-week training course is described as a gruelling test of fitness and mental ability. Greater Manchester Fire Service has held a number of women-only recruitment days in Bolton during the spring in a bid to give women a taste of life at the emergency call-out frontline.

This resulted in a number of women putting in applications to join the traditionally male-dominated "force".

A fire service spokesman said: "We have only had one female full-time firefighter. Now we have four, which is still short of the seven per cent.

"But we are working on that and we have had a very positive response from women resulting from the recruitment days. The training is gruelling and it doesn't suit everyone, men and women alike.

"We have a lot of ex-forces people in the fire service and even they comment about how difficult the 12-week course is. It is tough."

Training included: Using breathing apparatus, first aid, hydraulics, chemistry, physics, building construction and basic fire safety.

Janine was among the 38 recruits who took part in the passing out parade at the Greater Manchester County Fire Service in front of the fire authority chairman, Cllr Fred Walker, and County Fire Officer George Almond.