MINEHEAD firefighter Chris Jones raced to the rescue of daughter Rebecca Cunningham-Jones with the ultimate impulse buy - his very own fire engine.

For years Chris had faithfully promised daughter Rebecca Cunningham-Jones a glamorous ride to the West Somerset Community College's year 11 prom in one of the local fire engines.

But dreaded health and safety rules got in the way and Rebecca and good friend Jack Sully, the son of fellow Minehead firefighter Steve Sully, were told the fire engine trip was a no-go.

That was until Chris secretly hit the internet and found a vintage 1975 Commer Commando fire engine for sale across the border near Crediton in Devon.

Unbeknown to Rebecca, he bought the engine with just days to spare and went to collect it three days before Friday's prom.

But destiny still had several more cards to play and the new purchase broke down just eight miles into her return journey to Minehead.

Despite roadside attempts at a quick fix and after a further two breakdowns, Chris was forced to abandon her for the night.

The following day the vintage tender was put on a transporter and arrived in West Somerset at Thursday lunchtime giving Chris only a few precious hours to try and get her back on the road.

Much tinkering later, including a home-made brake pipe, he managed to get the fire engine running and all seemed to be on course to give Rebecca the surprise of her life.

But on the evening of the prom, the batteries were dead and Chris had to rely on a jump-start to get the wheels in motion.

"I kept it a secret from everybody and both Rebecca and Jack were quite emotional when I arrived.

"I'd been promising her for years that I'd take her to the prom in a fire engine and she was so disappointed when she found out I couldn't do it because of health and safety so I thought there had to be a way around it," Chris said.

But with the prom out of the way, Chris now has to decided what to do with his shiny red fire engine.

"Luckily I have a very generous ex-employer who is allowing me to keep it in his yard, but I've got to decide whether to keep it or not.

"I did think I would keep it for 12 months and take it out to some rallies, but I'll have to see," Chris said.

Rebecca and friend Jack Sully are pictured with Chris (back, left) and fellow firefighter Steve Sully.

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Photo: Steve Guscott