UPTON fireman Dave Walker, the 'hero' of the town's November flood, has resigned in protest at the service's response to calls for flood help.

The retained firefighter and two of his colleagues were much praised by local people for their work in last month's flood, when they co-ordinated the relief effort from Upton Fire Station.

But some of their efforts were outside the official remit of the fire service - to respond to 999 emergencies - and landed them in trouble.

Mr Walker was taken to task for using Fire Brigade resources, including the Upton Community Rescue Boat, for non-emergency purposes and for organising hot meals for TA members providing a shuttle service over river. Upton Town Council eventually stepped in to pick up part of the tab for the food.

On Tuesday, faced with a similar situation, Mr Walker quit.

He said: "It's as if they have turned the clock back again. They wouldn't allow us to use equipment at the station as we did last time.

"We used our intelligence and we were still on stand-by for 999 calls, so what's the difference?"

He and other members of the retained crew were still out voluntarily helping elderly people to lift sandbags and move furniture.

This week a full-time firefighter, Station Officer Bill Perrins, was stationed at Upton Fire Station along with Territorial Army personnel from Worcester's Royal Artillery 214 Battery and police officers providing cover for Upton on a rota.

Fire Brigade spokesman Alec Mackie said he was not aware of any official flood related emergency calls the fire service had been required to respond to.

But by 11 o'clock on Wednesday morning Mr Walker's wife, Sue, had taken 17 calls for assistance, including some from elderly people on the east of the river needing lifts through the floods.

District councillor Mary Wilkinson said: "Dave Walker is the lynchpin for the whole of the flood operation. He knows it inside out. It's unbelievable that this could have been allowed to happen."

Mr Mackie confirmed that Mr Walker had resigned as a retained sub officer at Upton.

"He and his retained crew have done a grand job down there. We wish him well and thank him for what he has done over the years," he said.