BUSINESSES in Marlow employing on-call firefighters have been praised by for their support by the county’s top officer during a special awards ceremony this week.

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue chief fire officer Mark Jones awarded Rebellion Brewery, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose a Community Protection Award for their goodwill in letting staff leave to attend emergencies.

And with Marlow Fire Station staffed entirely by on-call crews, special praise was given to the firms for their patience during the huge flood relief effort in the town in February.

Mr Jones said: "This award is in recognition of the outstanding support given by local companies in allowing employees to be released to assist Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service to deal with emergency incidents.

"Three companies have been recognised to receive this award for their willingness to release members of their staff to assist the fire and rescue service in improving public safety within their community, not only on a daily basis but also especially during the flooding events which affected the town of Marlow earlier on in this year."

The award was presented to Marks and Spencer in Marlow for releasing firefighter Jo Wheildon, Rebellion Brewery, which employs Sam Gost, and Waitrose on Liston Road for releasing Jake Connell.

Watch manager at Marlow Richard Boast said: "If it wasn’t for companies like that we would struggle. That is the whole thing with the fire service, we rely on the good will from them and from our families as well.

"They do put in an awful lot of time and effort and cost because they lose a member of staff and they don’t know how long they will be when they walk out of the door."

He said that firms also benefit from the high level of training given to on-call firefighters, who are trained to exactly the same level as full time crews.

Tim Coombes, of Rebellion brewery in Marlow Bottom, praised the important work the crews do in the community.

And the co-founder of the growing business said he was happy to stick by employee Sam Gost when he told them he was training to become a firefighter.

He said: "It’s nice to be recognised, we made the decision when he came to us and told us about what he was going to do, and we’re happy to do it.

"Sam had worked on a number of areas for us. We’re currently extending and he’s been working on that for us, and it’s been no trouble whatsoever."

On average, over a million litres of water were pumped each day during Bucks Fire and Rescue's flood relief operation which ran from February 6 to 22.

There were at least 11 people on site, 24 hours a day, equating to 3,256 firefighter hours.

Crews from all 20 stations throughout Bucks and Milton Keynes were involved in the efforts, which centred around Pound Lane, Quarrydale Drive and St Peter Street.