A fire officer, who served for 17 years with the on call team is set to step down and take on a brand new role.

Mel Buck, 50, has worked as an on call fire officer with North Lowestoft Fire Station for the past 17 years and has worked with the fire service for 19 years.

But Mr Buck has now stepped down from the position, after being appointed Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service Fire Service Prevention Manager.

Mr Buck, alongside his firefighting team recently cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise money in support of The Fire Fighters Charity – while raising awareness of the mental health challenges they and their colleagues face every day.

Mr Buck also volunteers as district commissioner for Lowestoft Scouts.

But now he is all set to focus on his full time role of prevention manager.

He said: "I'm going to miss the on call team a lot but I'm looking forward to just focussing on my role as prevention manager now.

"Whilst I will still see the team occasionally, it will be strange not seeing them as much.

"What I won't miss is the 3am alarm call."

The on call team is called when North Lowestoft fire station require two or more fire crews to an incident and have to respond within four minutes of receiving an alert.

The team at the fire station are always looking for new volunteers and encouraged people from all backgrounds to apply.

"It is a fantastic and diverse workforce," Mr Buck said.

"So many different people volunteer with the on call team including an A&E nurse, postman, all sorts and it is a great asset not only for employees but employers as well.

"You just never know what you are going to be called to.

"During my time with the on call team, the most exciting incident was dealing with the floods in 2013.

"We had a huge responsibility helping the local community during that time."

Anyone who is interested volunteering for the on call team can apply through the Suffolk Fire and Rescue website.