His hat doesn’t quite fit properly, but could this toddler be one of Thanet’s firefighters of the future?

Youngster Aaron Butler was one of around 2,500 visitors to a packed open day at Thanet (Westwood) fire station on Sunday. Fire engines from across the island were joined by specialist crews from elsewhere in Kent, including the Whitstable inshore boat, the line rescue team from Deal and the county’s urban search and rescue dogs.

Families were also able to have a look around a coastguard rescue boat, an ambulance and first responder vehicle and Kent Police’s speed camera van.

Station manager Peter Davies said: “We honestly couldn’t have asked for better.

“We had a terrific response to the day and our crews worked very hard.

“It was a lot of fun but we also managed to get across plenty of fire safety tips and accident prevention messages, so it was a great success all round.”

Mr Davies and his team now turn their attention to the firefighters’ charity car wash, which takes place outside the station on Saturday (September 20) from 11am-4pm