A new wireless internet service is to be trialled in Maidstone and it could save lives.

The county town has been chosen for a national pilot of WiMax broadband.

Over the next three months it will be used to beam images from fire engines to a control room at Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue headquarters, in Tovil, Maidstone, to speed up the response to major incidents.

It will also be used to link the county town’s CCTV cameras to Maidstone council’s control room.

About 50 students in the town will also be given pre-paid cards to allow them to use the service on their laptops, to research coursework and download music and video files.

If the trial is successful, Maidstone is likely to become one of the first towns in the country to have a full WiMax service.

WiMax is similar to wifi broadband – the kind that is offered in coffee shops and hotels – but is faster, up to 10MB per second, and has a wider range.

To find out more, see Friday's Kent Messenger.