KIDDERMINSTER Fire Station will be the first in Worcestershire and Herefordshire to have a new water-pumping unit designed to deal with terrorist attacks.

The high volume pumping units, which are part of the Government's New Dimension Programme, can pump up to 7,000 litres of water a minute.

The unit is able to transport water over long distances, meaning it can be used to combat flooding, in firefighting and helping decontaminate water supplies.

The equipment, due to be installed at the Castle Road station in September, will be operated by a crew of five firefighters.

Alec Mackie, spokesman for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, said the equipment would eventually be made available to whole of the service. He explained: "Kidderminster has been chosen because it is strategically the best site for the new unit. The fact that it has been chosen has got nothing to do with any terrorist risk to the town."