The eight men, many of whom have never trained formally, are at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service's headquarters at Washington Hall, Euxton, Chorley as part of a month-long trip.

Nine months of fundraising and organising by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), with support from fire services in Scotland, Lancashire and Manchester, has seen the firefighters from Nablus able to visit to receive much needed training.

At the end of the program the firefighters will return to Nablus and become training instructors for the fire department.

Steve Harman, Lancashire FBU secretary, said: "Having been over to Nablus and having witnessed the extreme difficulties the firefighters faced on a daily basis, I was humbled by the experience.

"They have never had any formal training, they have just trained themselves within Nablus. Some of the firefighters were trained by the Israelis but that stopped a long time ago."

The exchange followed previous trips to Palestine when Lancashire officials visited the Nablus fire station and spent time with the firefighters. Nablus has a population of around 300,000 – including four refugee camps – and has 72 firefighters.

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