After 30 years of fighting fires, Braintree's station officer David Mayes has taken his last drill.

Mr Mayes will be retiring tomorrow (Thursday), as he turns 55, the retirement age for firefighters.

On Monday night, he attended his final drill of the 20 firefighters he is in charge of and it was an emotional moment for him.

Mr Mayes said: "It felt very emotional really when I shook hands with all the blokes.

"We had all the lads out and the hoses out to pump water from a dam up the tower and at the end they all got me and put me in the water."

His son Paul, 31, a full-time firefighter at Brentwood, was also at the drill to take some photographs of his father's last day at the station.

Over the years, Mr Mayes has been to hundreds of fires and accidents across the district and he has seen a lot of changes in the job.

He said: "It's amazing when you look back at the changes in the machines and technology, particularly the road rescue equipment.

"It makes you wonder how we used to manage before we had it, but we did.

"I'm sad to be leaving and will miss all the blokes, but it's time to go. I've been here a long old time - 30 years is a big part of anyone's life.

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