Steven Moore starts a new life this week – a life without uniform.

Mr Moore, 58, retired from his position as a retained fireman with the Egremont Brigade on Monday night.

It marks a huge change in his life, and the first time he has been out of uniform since he was 16.

Mr Moore, of Clint Road, joined the armed forces as a teenager and spent eight years in the army before returning to Egremont where he joined the Sellafield Fire Service.

His hobby became something of a busman’s holiday when he joined the Egremont fire station.

“I have loved every minute of it,” he said. “I am going to really miss it and I think I will feel a few pangs when I hear the siren, wondering where they are going and why I am not there.

“What I won’t miss – and neither will my wife, Colette, or my 19-year-old daughter Lauren – is the disrupted sleep. My brain tells me to carry on. My body told me it was time to quit.”

Mr Moore works as a safety officer with the Sellafield brigade so is not called out to emergencies, but has attended many major fires in his time, including a nightclub fire in the town about 20 years ago. He was also involved in fighting the huge SIS fire in Maryport and many more.

One of the features of working in a small town is that on many occasions firefighters are called to road accidents and fires involving people they know. “This has happened quite often but, fortunately, I have never attended a fatality of someone I knew.”

Mr Moore has been actively involved in the community side of the Egremont station including taking part in the annual textile collection and Santa’s Grotto: “They are a real team effort organised by Dave McDowell and supported by the whole community. The community of Egremont is fantastic in its support.”

“I am really going to miss this job but I am really going to enjoy sleeping through the night.”