A west Dorset woman has been praised for supporting four generations of her family to be firefighters.

Jill Matthews, from Charmouth, received a plaque from Ben Ansell, the chief fire officer (CFO) of Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, when she attended her grandson’s pass-out parade last month. Ben Perry is the family’s newest recruit to serve Charmouth as an on-call firefighter.

Ben’s great-grandfather, Len Linthorne, led the way, joining the fire service back in 1947. His daughter Jill later married Stuart Matthews, who became a firefighter in 1977, retiring 12 years later.

One of their three children, Julian, joined the Coldstream Guards, a regiment of the British Army, at the age of 16 and later was a on-call firefighter for two years after returning to live in Charmouth.

Now, his nephew Ben has taken up the mantle, joining Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service two years ago. He provides cover alongside his full-time job as a window fitter with Hussey and Briggs in Bridport and has now successfully completed his firefighter acquisition training courses.

When CFO Ben Ansell met Mrs Matthews at the pass-out parade, he was so impressed by her family history and the commitment to firefighting that’s has spanned more than 70 years that he decided to make the presentation of a service plaque.

He said: “It isn’t unusual to meet on-call firefighters whose parents or siblings have also been firefighters, but it was quite something to meet someone who has seen four generations of their family support their community in this way.

“We often talk of the fire service family, as none of our firefighters could do the job they do without the backing of those around them, so I very much wanted to recognise the outstanding support of Mrs Matthews. It was a privilege to meet her.”

To find out more about on-call firefighters, visit dwfire.org.uk/on-call-firefighters or oncallfire.uk