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Gloucestershire firefighters are to answer emergency calls from isolated and vulnerable people via special sensors installed in their homes.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue will be alerted by the council's 24-hour Telecare service in a pilot scheme to support residents in the Cotswolds.

John Beard, from the fire service, said it was "great" to help "plug a gap in social care" in rural areas.

Gloucestershire County Council said it would help to "deliver savings".

The pilot scheme, involving retained firefighters, is aimed at elderly and vulnerable people who do not have support from local friends or family.

'Falls detector'

Sensors which can detect fire, flooding, carbon monoxide and gas leaks have been placed around the person's home. A "falls detector" can also be worn around the neck or on the wrist and generates an emergency call if the wearer has fallen.

All of the equipment is linked to a 24-hour monitoring centre, which operates all year round.

John Beard said: "It's really great for the fire service to plug a gap in the social care of the people who need it most, particularly in our rural community.

"It's wonderful to be able to offer our existing infrastructure and well-trained professional firefighters to be able to deliver a service that otherwise we'd struggle to be able to do."

Commissioning manager Donna Miles, who works across Gloucestershire Commissioning Group and the county council, said: "It's about having the longer term ambition to keep people at home as long as we possibly can, which in itself will help prevent hospital admissions.

"It will deliver savings in delaying when somebody goes into a care home, from a county council perspective."

The pilot scheme will run initially in the in the Northleach, Chipping Campden and Fairford areas.