Ledbury firefighters will say a fond farewell to Sub-Officer Terry Phillips on his retirement after more than 25 years.

A party to celebrate Mr Phillips' quarter century of service was taking place this evening (Friday) at the town's Royal British Legion Club.

Mr Phillips', a retained or part-time officer, finished his final shift last night.

The 56-year-old said: "I should have retired last year. Normally, firefighters retire at 55 but, because of staffing considerations, I agreed to stay on one more year."

Mr Phillips said he had no concerns about the future operation of the station but was keen to see it continue to play a part in Ledbury in Bloom, the floral displays at the station being an important element in the campaign.

Mr Phillips said: "I will miss firefighting. However, it does limit your social life as you are on call. I don't drink, if I have a shandy that's enough for me."

The Ledbury crew and Mr Phillips were first on the scene at the Seven Stars fire in July, 2001.

He recalled: "At the time, all we could see was smoke coming from the front bedroom window. The fire took hold very quickly, and my concern was the roof tiles falling on the heads of the firefighters. The heat was really severe. I was upset because the pub was part of Ledbury. Every time you passed by you looked at it and couldn't believe it had gone so quickly."

Mr Phillips also attended the Sun Valley blaze ten years ago, when two Herefordshire firefighters lost their lives.

He said: "When you know there have been deaths, all the crew members feel really down. You don't forget."

On a lighter note, Mr Phillips, whose daughter Jane works in the fire control room, recalled rescuing an pigeon dangling upsidedown from a TV aerial in Putley.

He said: "There was string around its feet and it had got tangled. It flew off, very happy. That's the other side of the job."

Mr Phillips' successor will be Leading Firefighter Keith Wildig.