One of the country’s longest-serving firefighters has called it a day after nearly half a century of service.

Watch Commander Paul Lillycrop stepped down from his post at Amersham Fire Station after 47 years – having been told as a fresh-faced 18-year-old at interview that he “looked a bit thin for the job”.

The 65-year-old watched over his final parade at the station last week, having been sent out to tackle his first fire – a huge blaze at a furniture factory in Winchmore Hill that left him wondering what he had let himself in for – two hours after he had been given his kit in 1968.

Major incidents he attended that stand out in his mind are the Total Oil fire at Langley in 1973, the Seer Green train crash in 1981 and being part of the Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service contingent helping out during the aftermath of the Buncefield explosion in Hemel Hempstead in 2005.

Mr Lillycrop said: “It doesn’t seem like 47 years. I have enjoyed my time in the service - it was something I always liked doing, and that I never lost interest in.”

He has special memories of many of his colleagues from his past – particularly the firefighters and officers he served with in Amersham nearly half a century ago. He said: “They were the people who taught me what I know about the job.”

Referring to his present-day colleagues at Amersham, he said: “They’re all good lads and lasses, and they have always given me good support.”

Mr Lillycrop also paid a special tribute to his parents: “They were my back-up in the early days, and I could never have done it without them."

Chief Fire Officer Jason Thelwell said: “Paul has gone about his business in the most professional manner imaginable. He is a credit to Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and to the communities it serves.”

Mr Lillycrop left Raans County Secondary School in Amersham when he was 16 and went to work at Flack’s Garage in White Lion Road. His boss, Malcolm Flack, was already an on-call firefighter at Amersham, and he decided to follow in his footsteps.