A VETERAN on-call firefighter who battled two airport blaze's and a huge town centre fire in a three decade career has been named Townperson of the Year.

Martyn Simmons was presented with the Epping Town Council award on Friday after joining the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service in June 1983, aged 27.

When he stopped working at the Bank of England and became a qualified tree surgeon, Mr Simmons was able to give more time to the fire service.

In his near 35 years of service, he fought house fires, a devastating fire along the shops of Epping High Street in 1990 and a major blaze at a hangar on North Weald Airfield in 1996.

He was also among the crews called to the Leeds United football team air crash at Stansted in 1998 and the Korean Air crash at Great Hallingbury, near the airport, in 1999.

Councillor Tony Church, Epping mayor, said: "With over 34 years of service, Mr Simmons deserves to be recognised for his commitment to the Epping community which unless you notice his callout pager on his belt, would be just another person passing you by."

Mr Simmons was nominated by Epping Fire Watch Manager Derek Whitbread and retired Epping firefighter John Batchelor.

Mr Whitbread said: "As an officer at Epping, he continues to make himself available for the crew most night times and weekends where his role means he has to stay within the confines of the local area.

"In some cases he has built his business so that many of his customers are local which then enables him to dedicate more time to the service.

"I feel Martyn is a credit to the team at Epping, the service as a whole and the local community.

"He has an exemplary record with the service and continues to support community initiatives and fundraising events organised on behalf of the fire service.

"To me, Martyn is what the Epping Citizen of the Year award is all about - dedication, loyalty and community service."

Mr Simmons was promoted to Leading Firefighter in 2002 and has qualified in various Essex County Fire and Rescue Service courses.

He has been awarded the Fire Service Long Service and Good Conduct Medal along with the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.