Firefighters at the Slough station are a welcome sight when they turn up to help out at a car fire or an accident.

But they are equally capable of turning their skills to ensuring members of the public take to the road in vehicles that look as good as new.

Over the last two years crews at the station have been running regular fund raising car washes on site in aid of the Firefighters' charity.

Last Friday local fund raising organiser for the charity Kerry James visited the station to present the guys with two trophies to thank them for their efforts.

Over the last year they raised £4,928.41 with car washes held at the station in September and March - beating the efforts of other stations across the country.

Miss James presented them with the league cup covering the whole of the UK for raising the most during the two sessions, while they also won a regional trophy for the £3,327.38 raised in March beating stations across the whole Berkshire, Bucks, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Jersey and Guernsey. The money raised in March made up almost half of the overall year's total.

The Slough team also won a hamper and VIP tickets for three of the crew to attend the British Touring Car Championships in Rockenham.

Also visiting the fire station on Friday to watch the men receive their reward was Berkshire's chief fire officer Trevor Ferguson.

He said: "I think this shows the ethos of of the fire service. They are not just firefighters but a part of the community."

So how do the men and women of Slough fire station think they manage to make such a success of their car washes.

Firefighter Ben Martin-Stone said: "I can't give my secret away."

It helped that there were not any call outs in March, so the team did not have to abandon their buckets and sponges. They did have to carry on through some heavy downpours which failed to dampen their spirits or deter the punters from coming in with their cars.