A FLAGSHIP approach to home safety has seen firefighters in Cheshire win a prestigious status.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is one of three to be awarded Marmot Partnership Status following their partnership work to improve the social circumstances and health of people living in their communities.

Simon Gibbins, head of protection for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We are very proud of these partnerships, which are not only making people safer in their own homes but also improving the health and wellbeing of many vulnerable people.

"In addition to fitting free smoke alarms and providing vital safety advice, we view all home safety checks as opportunities to highlight potentially vulnerable people to organisations such as Age UK to make sure that they are supported."

For some time, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has worked with partners across the health and social care sector to target vulnerable people and help to prevent fires in their home.

In 2014 alone, the service undertook 27,206 home fire safety checks, 82 per cent of which were to people aged over 65, representing the highest percentage in the country.

This has been vital in helping reduce preventable fire deaths and injuries in the past decades and combines fire safety checks with signposting residents to appropriate support from other agencies.

The award was presented on Thursday by Sir Michael Marmot, when he also launched his new book ‘The Health Gap and the Challenge of an Unequal World’.

Sir Michael said: "If 200,000 deaths were caused by a pollutant people would be on the streets marching to have it banned.

"The irony is, the actual cause is just as pin-pointable as a toxin.

"The cause is inequality in the conditions in which we are born, live, work and age.

"Action must take place at national level to promote a fairer distribution of power, money and resources.

"But we also know community engagement reduces ill health and saves lives and that’s why the work firefighters are doing is absolutely magnificent."