FIREFIGHTERS were given a send-off at Accrington fire station as they set out on a mercy mission to Bosnia.

Accrington firefighter Bill O'Connor and Nelson sub-officer Peter Goble are among 16 Lancashire firefighters who are to spend two weeks in Mosnik rebuilding a kindergarten used during the war as a collection centre for refugees from Srebrenica and Zepa. The mission is funded by the charity War on Want and is the latest in a series of overseas humanitarian projects by Lancashire Fire Brigade.

The firefighters are also taking to Bosnia counterfeit designer clothing, some of the haul of fakes confiscated by Lancashire trading standards officers in the last year.

The firefighters travelling to Bosnia include from Accrington fire station: Colin Cunliffe, Les Warren, Jed Richmond, Bill O'Connor, Carl Jones, Mick Spencer; Nelson fire station: Peter Goble; Blackburn fire station: Mark Southworth, Dave Russel; Darwen fire station: Terry Ashworth; and retired firefighter Ken Croasdale, of Accrington.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.