A fire service is asking the public for their views on its performance in areas including shift patterns and emergency response time.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is looking for feedback on how it manages the risks it faces across the county, from its collision response record to specialist rescue capabilities.

Information gathered from the eight-week consultation will be fed into an Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) for three years until 2022, shaping how the brigade provides its services.

As part of this year's statutory survey, SFRS is particularly seeking views on:

• Automatic fire alarms and unwanted fire signals

• Response to road traffic collisions

• Shift patterns

• Specialist rescue capabilities

• Speed of response to emergency incidents – performance measures

Mark Hardingham, Suffolk's chief fire officer, said: 'By constantly reviewing our service, we can ensure a balance of our prevention, protection and emergency response services to communities across Suffolk.

'This has helped Suffolk to largely reflect the national trend among fire services, with an overall reduction in the number of 999 calls, fire deaths and injuries in recent years.

'When we put together our last IRMP three years ago, input from the public positively affected and influenced its content. I would encourage people to get involved with their fire service by sharing their thoughts on the areas we have highlighted.'

SFRS regularly assesses forseeable risks that could affect operations, including consideration of one-off events such as countywide flooding and terrorist attacks, in addition to the more usual responses to fires, animal rescues and collisions.

A key part of the review is to invite the public to share their views through a consultation and at a number of events in Suffolk.

Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council cabinet member for environment and public protection, added: 'SFRS has established a reputation for being a low-cost service that performs effectively, a credit to all our firefighters and the non-operational staff who work hard to keep the public safe.

'By continuously reviewing what we do, we ensure the service provided offers value for money.'

To have your say in the consultation, running until April 7, visit the Suffolk County Council website, where you can also find the dates on which SFRS will be visiting local communities.