A Charmouth firefighter who kept up family tradition when he joined the brigade has been honoured for his long service.

Crew manager Terry Grinter has been a retained firefighter since 1990 and was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal at Dorset Fire and Rescue Service’s annual awards ceremony.

The 47-year-old joined at the age of 26, following in the footsteps of dad Keith, now 77, and brother Peter, now 45, who were also retained at Charmouth.

Mr Grinter was a butcher at the time, working nights in Chard, making him available for most of the day.

He said: “I would often go out on a fire after working all night, but I knew what I was letting myself in for.”

Mr Grinter, of Old Lyme Road, Charmouth, then became – and still is – a Royal Mail postman, delivering in Lyme Regis.

“I was starting at 4.30am so I was home for midday and could still give day cover,” he said.

After eight years he became a crew manager and enjoys his role just as much now as the day he joined.

He said: “I never regretted it and I absolutely love it.

“I’m second in command now and as I’ve lived in Charmouth all my life I feel like I’m putting something back into the village by helping people.”

The crew can be tasked all over the county and can be called any time of the day or night.

It is something Mr Grinter and wife of six years Penny can never quite get used to.

“We’ve got an electronic availability system and you have to be there whatever you are doing, and believe me, it can be right at the wrong moment,” said Mr Grinter.

“When the wife has prepared a lovely tea and she has just put it on the table and the pager goes off, she’s not best pleased.

“When the pager goes off I always get an adrenalin rush, because until you get to the station, you don’t know what you are going to.”

In the past 20 years, the incident that really sticks in Mr Grinter’s mind was the lorry smash at the Mariners Hotel in Lyme Regis last October when father-of-one Alexander Quan-Yat-Koon lost both his legs.

Mr Grinter said: “One of the reasons is that it was a Royal Mail lorry, and secondly, it was my post round but it happened on my day off.

“The time it happened would have been roughly when I would normally be in that area.

“I had to deal with people involved who are normally my customers.”

Mr Grinter was presented with his award by the High Sheriff of Dorset Alan Frost at the ceremony in Lulworth Castle last week.

He said: “I felt really proud because I was the only person from West Dorset receiving a medal.

“With my dad, my wife, and the watch commander John Stamp there, and with the setting in Lulworth Castle, it was a perfect evening.”