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A baton has been passed at Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service this month.

After five years of solid service, Fudge the Fire Dog is stepping down from her role as an arson investigaion dog to be replaced by a young springer spaniel named Freckle.

Freckle, Dave and Fudge

The two-year-old has been trained up to investigate fire scenes not just in Derbyshire but across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire as well.

Handler Dave Coss has looked after both dogs and uses a simple 'tennis ball' system to get the dogs to search buildings for flammable liquids if there is a suspicion of arson.

He told ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Derby's Shane O'Connor: "We decided to retire Fudge because she's had a hard working life and we wanted to offer her a bit of quality of life at the end rather than retiring her when she's completely worn out.

"So rather than having a dog from a puppy, we needed one we could train up straight away. We were offered Freckle as a re-home by someone who couldn't cope with him anymore.

"He's been trained up at the South Yorkshire Police Dog Training School and he was passed out last week so we're ready to go!"

Freckle will now be based at the East Midlands Regional Fire Investigation Dog Unit in Alfreton.

But he'll have his work cut out replacing Fudge who became the busiest fire dog in the country with around than 550 investigations and more than 150 convicted arsonists to her credit over the past five years.

In his first few weeks, Freckle will have to get used to wearing special doggy fire wellies to protect his paws as wellÌý as a special harness which allows him to work safely at height.

Mind you, if he wants any advice he can always consult Fudge who will be spending her retirement living with Dave and his family.

Dave explained: "I'm going to have to keep taking Fudge into work for a while because she doesn't like being left on her own - last time I did she chewed the whole house up!

"She's also been getting a little bit jealous of Freckle as he's been getting so much attention - she'll sit in the van barking her head off!"