FATHER-of-four Peter Wells has committed 20 years to being a retained fire-fighter.

Trained to cope in the face of fire, the sub-officer, of Burneside Road, Kendal, admits it is the thrill of tackling a blaze which continues to bind him to Kendal Fire Service.

But he has also dealt with a host of other challenges, from road accidents and hazardous chemical spills to swimming with a cow in the line of duty.

"The cow was in a stream near Grayrigg - it had fallen down and there was no way we could get it out," explained Mr Wells.

"We had to swim with it down the river.

We swam either side of the animal to get it to a shallow point.

When we got it out, we realised it had a broken leg.

It had to be put down."

Mr Wells is on 24-hour call and has the support of his wife Caroline and employers at Thomas Hardy in Kendal, where he has worked for more than two decades.

Explaining that his employers had always supported his work in the community, he suggested the current recruitment problem was because other employers were not as prepared to let staff rush off.

"I think a lot of people are interested in joining, but are asking employers if they can be released if necessary and are told they can't," he said.

Mr Wells, whose duties as a sub-officer focus on drills and training, stressed that employers gained from having retained employees.

Because of the nature of the job, they were excellent team players, physically-fit, experienced in first aid and possibly boasted a heavy goods vehicle licence.

They could also help with fire drills at the workplace and liaise with the fire service about fire insurance certificates.

Mr Wells added: "I enjoy doing it - to be honest I wouldn't have stuck at it this long if I didn't.

And, at the end of the day, we are doing a public service which saves lives."