THE total number of incidents attended by Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service dropped by 17 per cent last year.

Statistics produced by the service for the year ending March 31 show there were 6,862 incidents – a 17 per cent drop on the previous year’s figure of 8,314.

The number of fires went down 35 per cent, from 2,591 to 1,673, while the number of arsons fell by 37.8 per cent.

The number of road traffic collisions fell by 6.6 per cent and there were 10 per cent fewer false alarms.

But they still had to attend more than 4,100 false alarms,

There were 4.3 per cent less accidental house fires, which comes on the back of a campaign to make people aware of the potential fire hazards lurking in their homes.

Graham Stagg, chief fire officer, said: “The Fire Authority has put tremendous effort and investment into reducing risk across the community.

“These figures are testament to the work done by all CFRS staff during a difficult period.

“Their professionalism has been maintained, as has the core objective of reducing risk across the community, and they are to be congratulated.”