Wednesday 21 July 2010

Yes, You Shall Go To The Ball….

…health and safety pantwetters be damned:
Chris Jones told Rebecca, 17, he would escort her to the dance on Friday in his work vehicle.

But station bosses told him he couldn’t because of health and safety rules.
So what did he do? He bought one:
So the 56-year-old, of Mine-head, Somerset, bought a vintage 1975 fire engine that he’d found online for £1,750.

‘Now I’ve got to decide whether to keep it or not,’ he said.
Better hang on to it, Chris! You never know when it’ll come in handy.

12 comments:

MTG said...

What a disgraceful attrition of perks for public service employees.

This kind of penny pinching could see the mean imposition on police to buy their own cars and helicopters for ferrying party booze.

JuliaM said...

They get their booze by helicopter..?

Wow, I want to attend one of their parties... ;)

Melvin Theopholus Gray's GP said...

Melvin! MELVIN! Medication NOW!

Captain Haddock said...

Apart from anything else, I would have thought that carrying anyone in a Fire Brigade vehicle .. for other than official purposes would be a breach of insurance ..

Anonymous said...

Had Ranter gone to Specsavers and paid more attention in class, even he could manage to spell Theophilus.

microdave said...

"They get their booze by helicopter..?"

Yes - Shaken, Not Stirred!

Anonymous said...

Its Me. The fireman in question. Yes it was a refusal on insurance grounds. I didnt have the problem with it-it was the way the press are showing it. And if the perk in this job after the two of us doing a combination of over 50 years operational service was a 2 min ride in a spare fire engine how did that really affect any tax payer. we had even offered 100 pound to charity. still- got my own engine now!!!!!

Shug Niggurath said...

I'd be surprised if it was really elf 'n' safety that was the problem. I'd be quite pissed off if my house was on fire and there was a shortage of appliances cause one of the (on or off) shift workers was shuttling his kid to a night out.

As Captain Haddock points out, it'd be uninsured most likely too. Guy was being a dick and overindulging his kid. Couldn't he have just hired a fire engine limo for her and a dozen pals for about £200?

Anonymous said...

Its a shame nobody has read my comment correctly!!! I confirmed it was an insurance issue-i only ever asked my employers out of curiosity-the press have taken this out of proportion and i confirmed it was a spare out of service appliance that at no stage was needed for operational use. Nobody was ever going to be at risk or comprimised,and i was also off duty. perhaps if your ass was on the line or on fire you wouldnt mind what i did in my spare time.

Anonymous said...

The burning question is whether it was insured. If it was insured, would the policy still provide cover for an escort business?

I would be extremely interested to hear from anyone who has reason to think this fire engine was insured at all.

JuliaM said...

"still- got my own engine now!!!!!"

Congrats! :)

Laban said...

He's got a whole new career opening up.

"Fancy something different for your school prom transport? Then you have come to the right place. Be the envy of all your friends and turn up in style in our luxury fire engine limousine.

We will collect your party of up to 16 people (2 fire engines available) have an hours drive around an area of your choice, ending up with the grand entrance at your school prom destination.

Once there we will take your photos and let your friends have a look inside the fire engine. If requested one of our fully uniformed firemen will then escort you inside the building to really get the gossip going and who knows, you might even get a fireman's lift!"