A FIREFIGHTER and a police officer today spoke of their hopes for the future after a pioneering year working together to tackle arson.

DC Graham Jones and Station Officer Rick Percival have big plans for the second year of their ground-breaking union.

And their aims have been given a boost with the news that they have received government funding to carry on for a further two years.

Already they have tested a new intelligence-led fire safety model in the Pennine Division, which resulted in a 16 per cent reduction in deliberate fires. It was the first initiative of its type in the country and was so successful that it will be applied to the rest of Lancashire by April.

The Arson Reduction Team was formed with £50,000 of government cash in the first union of the fire and the police services to tackle a specific issue.

Arson attacks were made the target after it was revealed 50 per cent of 5,704 property fires in 2000 were deliberate and malicious.

They are also targeting accidental deliberate fires, for example, bonfires that go wrong.

While the duo, who drive around in an Audi A2, believe they are having an impact, both stress that it will be a slow process in reversing the rising trend. DC Jones said: "Our roles are a new process but we are both enjoying it.

"It has been a big role because we are working with the whole of the police and the whole of the fire service.

"We hope to build on our achievements next year but we feel it has already been a success.

"The intelligence-led fire safety model is very forward thinking and Lancashire will be the first in the country to have this." The benefits of the model are praised in the Arson Reduction Team's annual report. It will be presented to the combined fire authority on Monday.

It mirrors the policing approach used by Lancashire Constabulary.

The theory behind it is that organisations look at the underlying issues rather than simply reacting to a situation.

Other initiatives praised in the report include helping the fire and police services work more closely together, reducing deliberate fires in scrapyards and helping tackle the problem of deliberate fires in schools.