A team of Oxfordshire firefighters have proved themselves among the best in the world at dealing with road accidents.

Five firefighters from Kidlington fire station travelled to Prague to compete with more than 30 teams from around the world.

Nick Quinn, Karl Downton, Bill Stiff, JP Williams and Steve Hughes were chosen to represent Britain after winning the British championships in Plymouth last year against 50 other teams.

Their job in Prague was to tackle simulated road accident scenarios.

In the three-day competition they had to deal with three different types of accidents.

They won two trophies and finished in second place overall, beaten only by a team from New South Wales, Australia, making them the best firefighter team in a road traffic accident in the northern hemisphere.

Nick Quinn scooped the award for best team leader for his use of command and control skills.

The group also won an innovation award trophy for a piece of equipment they designed themselves.

They invented an adjustable screen which enables them to work in two teams simultaneously when cutting road crash victims from damaged vehicles.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service's deputy chief fire officer, John Hurren, said: "They are an experienced rescue team and go out to the majority of serious road accidents in Oxfordshire.

"It's reassuring to know we have a professional team that are the second best in the world providing that service."