Essex Fire Authority is working to stamp out all forms of discrimination in the service.

A report by Her Majesty's Inspector has said the brigade still has a lot of work to do to create equal opportunities and increase the number of women and ethnic minorities in the service.

Although Home Secretary Jack Straw has set targets of seven per cent for black and ethnic minority firefighters in the service, the last count showed only three per cent working in the county.

The report said: "The level of commitment to the improvement of equality and fairness should be substantially upgraded, and improvement achieved as a matter of urgency."

But the report said schemes aimed at resolving the problem have scored some success.

The authority has appointed an equal opportunities officer and set up working groups to tackle the problem.

Essex Fire Service has invested in a recruitment campaign, visits to stations, attendance at jobs fairs and a major package of extra training.

The service's equal opportunities officer Verna Wilks said her visits to stations had found a lack of understanding for the need to recruit more staff from minorities.

She said: "The reason for having policies, procedures and training must not be devised just to stay out of trouble but to ensure that everyone is treated fairly.

"It has been recognised that there are other forces at work that are far stronger than legislative ones, these being the forces of tradition, habit and culture." The estimated cost of additional training is about £42,000.

Costs will be met from within existing resources and the approved budget. The report is due to be discussed tomorrow.

Nationally there was an increase of 15.6 per cent in the number of female firefighters and 12.4 per cent in the number from ethnic minorities in a year.

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