CLEVELAND fire chiefs are celebrating after slashing the number of arsons in the area.

They say community safety and education initiatives have been successful in driving down the number of incidents attended by firefighters.

With officers tackling a high ratio of deliberately-started blazes - nine out of ten calls - the force mobilised to take steps to tackle the problem.

Over the past five years, the brigade has reduced the total number of fires from 9,837 to 7,445, a reduction of 24 per cent.

This year, the force also concentrated on reducing fires in property, and succeeded in reducing incidents by 25 per cent.

Accidental house fires have dropped to fewer than one a day, a reduction of 30 per cent, which has helped reduce the number of injuries from fire to an all-time low.

Mark Whelan, director of community safety, said: "This time last year we were celebrating our best performance for more than seven years. The challenge then was to keep it going. We are delighted that we have achieved what we set out to do, and have made further significant reductions.

"Much of this success can be attributed to the brigade's community safety activities. Almost 50,000 home fire safety checks have been carried out, to offer people free fire safety advice in their home, with free smoke detectors where necessary.

"Although the brigade has the highest arson rate in the country, we have a raft of proactive measures in place which have had a marked effect on bringing down the number of deliberate fires we attend."

Deliberate property fires have been reduced by 25 per cent on top of similar reductions the previous year.

Reductions of more than 80 per cent have been recorded by the brigade in some areas over the past five years.

The most dramatic reduction is seen in the number of injuries from fires - down 81 per cent - thanks to a drop of 82 per cent in recorded incidents and malicious calls.

* Anyone interested in obtaining a free home fire safety check should call (01429) 874063