AMPSHIRE'S firefighters will be better equipped to rescue trapped animals after receiving £10,500 from a pet charity.

The Petplan Charitable Trust has donated the money to Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to support the brigade's rural safety officers.

The money will be used to buy more response vehicles, help kit-out the vehicles with specialist equipment and fund further development of the Hampshire Sling, a contraption developed by officers for rescuing animals and lifting them to safety.

Jim Green, rural safety officer for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We are delighted that The Petplan Charitable Trust is helping to support our work.

"Every year we respond to an increasing number of animal rescue incidents and the grant will mean that we are able to further develop our specialist team to deal with these situations quickly and effectively.

"At the moment our resources are stretched and much of the money will provide development into existing equipment such as the Hampshire Sling.

"We also hope to be able to kit out a further three fully equipped vehicles - all this we hope will save the lives of even more animals in need of our help."

David Simpson, chairman of trustees for Petplan, said: "The Petplan Charitable Trust believes that the donations raised from the Petplan policy holders can make a real difference to the welfare of not only domestic animals but also wild animals in need of a helping hand.

"We highly commend the work already carried out by the officers and hope that they can develop and train further teams to continue and expand their honourable work."