FIRE chiefs had been conducting extensive research into introducing lifesaving water rescue equipment two years before a firefighter drowned in a lodge while trying to save a teenager, a court was told.

In 1997, Greater Manchester Fire Service had begun to analyse what their exact role in water rescues should be.

It was looking at equipment including immersion suits, life preservers, buoyancy aids and protective head gear.

Two years later, on September 5, 1999, Paul Metcalf, aged 40, died after trying in vain to save 15-year-old Reyaz Ali at Simon's Lodge, Holcombe Brook.

A jury at Bolton Crown Court heard the water rescue moves were still being considered when Mr Metcalf attended the scene -- which meant that the engine was not equipped with life jackets or specialist water kits.

The Health and Safety Executive has brought Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority to court, alleging it failed in its duty as an employer to ensure, so far as it is practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees for operations in, on or near water.

Barry Dixon, County Fire Officer for Greater Manchester Fire Service, said: "We were thinking that we needed a more joined-up approach to water rescue and we wanted work done with crews to gather firefighters' thoughts."

Concerns had been raised about adding more equipment to engines that were already heavily loaded.

Mr Dixon said: "There are five firefighters aboard an appliance, with 400 gallons of water and other equipment.

"There is only so much we can carry."

He added: "I did not think that it would be appropriate to load all this equipment straight on an engine.

"We needed to determine the equipment and training to underpin these procedures, otherwise we would get it back to front."

Greater Manchester Fire Service, on average, deals with 30 to 35 water related incidents every year.

Feedback from firefighters showed that they were in favour of a more detailed policy on water rescues.

Mr Dixon said: "The public regard us as the all-embracing fire and rescue service. Whenever there are incidents, they call the fire service and we will respond." The court heard that firefighters attending water rescues had traditionally entered the water with just a line tied to themselves, like Mr Metcalf.

In 1997, a firefighter wrote to Mr Dixon suggesting that the division purchased a device, called a Fish Finder, that could be attached to the bottom of a rescue boat, based at Heywood fire station. The gadget would have the capacity to locate bodies that were floating beneath the surface of the water.

Richard Clarke, an inspector with the Health and Safety Initiative, told the court that his five year probe into the death of firefighter Paul Metcalf had revealed that Greater Manchester Fire Service had no previous convictions for breaches of health and safety.

Reyaz Ali had gone to Simon's Lodge to swim, but he suddenly disappeared beneath the surface. Firefighter Metcalf entered the water to rescue the teenager, with just a rope tied around his waste, but got into difficulties. He died after attempts to resuscitate him at the side of the water failed.