Thousands apply for 50 firefighter jobs

Officials say they are staggered by the figures which also revealed a total of 5,917 people initially registered their interest in the positions during the recruitment drive.

It comes as the service revealed that it had lost 275 firefighters in the past four years as a result of £22 million cuts in government funding.

But chairman of the West Midlands Fire Authority, Councillor John Edwards, said the recent recruitment drive was vital to maintain the minimum number of firefighters needed by the service.

In total, 3,659 people made full applications in a bid to become firefighters during the latest recruitment drive, which came to an end this week.

Councillor Edwards said: "Every time that we advertise for full-time firefighters we always get a tremendous response and this time it has been the same.

"There are many people that would like to have a great career with a great fire service. There is a lot of work to do over the next few weeks to sift through the candidates to slim the list down.

"There are always going to be people, especially young people, who want jobs and see this as a good career but we have older applicants too," he added.

Those who make it through the first stage will be invited to take part in practical tests and interviews in January, followed by medicals in February. Two-month training courses will be staggered throughout 2015 starting in March.

Successful candidates will join fire stations in late April or early May.

A fire service spokesman said: "We're now working through applications to see who did well enough to be invited to progress to the next stage.

"The plan is to inform successful and non-successful applicants by the end of January.

"Practical tests are expected to take place in early March, when we'll look at applicants' strength and fitness."

The current joining salary is £21,799, rising to £22,706 during development and £29,054 when competent.

Applicants are assessed for their eligibility and suitability, as well as their ability to understand information, work with numbers and solve problems.

The practical training course focuses on using breathing apparatus, hoses, ladders, hydraulic rescue equipment, fire-fighting techniques and trauma management.

The theory covers subjects such as building construction, hydraulics, chemistry and combustion.

A previous recruitment drive by West Midlands Fire Service in June 2013 saw 2,000 applications for 50 jobs in the first week.