A former tennis coach who took the leap of faith to become a firefighter is celebrating his fourth year in the service on Leap Year Day today.

I’m going to continue to challenge myself and see what I can achieve here

Firefighter Jonathan Ashby, 27, joined Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service on February 29 in 2016 after starting as an on-call retained firefighter alongside his job as a tennis coach.

Jonathan, based in Longton but also a crew manager in Stone, wanted a career and saw an advert for on-call firefighters and decided to get involved.

He said: “The people I work with and the different challenges we can face every day is what I enjoy the most.

“It all started because I wanted a different career and I saw an advert for on-call firefighters so I signed up. I did a course and wasn’t sure at first but then I fell in love with the station and then completely fell in love with the job.

“Things have really fallen into place and I’ve been so fortunate. I love the culture here and I’m going to continue to challenge myself and see what I can achieve here at SFRS.”

Anyone wanting to sign up or find out more about becoming a retained on-call firefighter can visit: https://www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk/careers/retained-on-call-firefighters/