WONDERFUL news — that was Wallingford mayor Alec Hayton’s reaction to news that the town’s 100-year-old fire station is to be replaced.

He said: “We need a modern fire station and the news that Oxfordshire County Council and the Government are going to spend the money on providing it is wonderful, even though we might have to wait for another four or five years. I hope that it will mean a completely new building — preferably out by Hithercroft, where it will have much better access to anywhere in Wallingford or to the bypass when it is called out to the surrounding villages.

“We have been promised a new station for a long, long time and it is good to see that the promise is being fulfilled.”

The present HQ is in Station Road, in a narrow street and close to the town centre with its traffic problems.

Last year, Wallingford’s retained firefighters — people who work in the community but respond immediately to a fire call with their two machines — tackled 132 incidents. Seven were fires and the rest were road traffic accidents.

A payment of £1.4m will be spread over two years and the Oxfordshire Fire Authority plans to put the money towards building new stations at Thame and Wallingford.

Additional funding of £3m will be provided by the county council.

The county’s assistant chief fire officer, Colin Thomas, said: “We are very pleased this grant has now been confirmed for the county council's fire and rescue service.

“This will now enable us to replace two existing, but very dated, stations, which no longer meet the needs of a modern and efficient fire and rescue service.

“Wallingford station is over 100 years old and was built at a time when fire engines weren’t even mechanised.

“It will give the reserve fire crews based there fantastic opportunities for better training space and room to store all the equipment that modern fire stations need to carry out their work.”

Mr Thomas said the fire authority was keeping all its options open when it came to the construction of the two new stations, which might even see the existing stations in Station Road, Wallingford, and Nelson Street, Thame, moving.

Oxfordshire Fire Authority will receive £642,000 in 2009/10 and £767,000 in 2010/11, and building work is due to take place during 2012/13.

The watch manager of Wallingford station, Gary Walker, said the news was fantastic for the community.

He said: “The station here in Wallingford has been modified many times to accommodate the ever changing needs of a modern fire rescue service and it’s now reached a point where it’s become very difficult to do this.”