Two Oxfordshire firefighters are helping to save lives more than 3,000 miles away by teaching their counterparts how to look after road accident victims.

Rob MacDougall and Chris Barber are in the Ghanian capital of Accra to help deliver a two-week training programme.

The course is designed to help Ghanian firefighters to hone their rescue techniques when they are pulling people out of the wreckage following car smashes.

Mr MacDougall and Mr Barber are part of a team of UK firefighters who have been supporting the Ghana National Fire Service through the World Rescue Organisation since 2003.

Mr MacDougall, 37, from Oxford, an organisational development manager based at Kidlington, is making his seventh trip to Ghana.

He said: “The number of people who die in road traffic accidents in Ghana is very high. The country is developing very fast and has a major road network.

“You have to pass a driving test but the cars there do not have an MOT test.”

Mr MacDougall is working with training managers from across Ghana to develop the programme.

And father-of-three Mr Barber, 37, from Kidlington, part of the fire service’s specialist rescue team, is helping Ghanian instructors to deliver rescue training.

He said: “This project has already made significant improvements to the Ghana National Fire Service, which is now rescuing people on a daily basis from the ever-developing road network.”

The project is funded by the Institution of Fire Engineers and the World Rescue Organisation International Development Programme.

Cabinet member for safer and stronger communities Judith Heathcoat said: “The partnership Oxfordshire Fire Service has with Ghana is strong and has developed their fire service and ours over the past nine years.”