AN ICONIC piece of Haworth Fire Station has been preserved for the village’s firefighters of the future.

The roller-shutter door was removed from the building in Station Road before it was demolished to make way for a new Co-op mini-market.

The door will be used by the Haworth Fire Cadets once they create their own ‘fire station’ to use as a base for training and meetings.

Fire Cadets founder Steve Thorpe has now issued a public appeal for someone to donate a building or land in Haworth that can be used by the popular youth group.

He said: “We need a building we can convert into a fire station for the cadets, or a piece of land where we can put something up. All we need now are three walls and a roof!

Mr Thorpe said the cadet unit was hugely popular with local children aged nine and above, but meetings – which have been suspended during the coronavirus pandemic – had to be held in Haworth Primary School.

Mr Thorpe said: “All we are looking for is somewhere to call home. It doesn’t need to be big. We have 12 cadets on each course and have a long waiting list.

“We train them in firefighting skills, working with ladders, and fire safety. We have breathing apparatus and a thermal imaging camera.

“There’s nothing else like it in the country. We keep some of the trainees and they help train the new cadets. One of our girls has now applied to join the Fire Service.”

Mr Thorpe, one of the leading lights in the unsuccessful campaign to save the fire station as a going concern, was delighted to secure the shutter doors to the community.

He paid tribute to Pennine Demolition and its boss Jeremy Walker for working with the Co-op to ensure they could save the roller doors, and Dyson Doors and Publications for specialist work taking the doors down.

The former fire station had been empty for more than four years, and last month was demolished so that the Co-op can build a food store ready to open in 2021.

The company said a six-figure investment would create up to 15 jobs for local people.