South West Fire & Rescue Services (FRS), consisting of Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon and Somerset services, are to roll-out a Public Services Network (PSN) in order to reduce response times and costs.

The network will provide communications services and data transfer to 4,860 staff and 188 fire stations. Wiltshire FRS ICT Director Les Louth said: “We’re supporting PSN services in areas such as common systems and applications, common standards operating procedures and data management."

The South West PSN will lay the path for a linked control system between the four regional services, designed to improve rapid response times and provide increased coverage for major disasters.