GREEN Goddesses worked through the night and attended nine incidents across Suffolk.In total, the joint command centre at Martlesham handled 20 fire-related calls, nine which were attended by the military and the remainder were dealt with by retained crews.

GREEN Goddesses worked through the night and attended nine incidents across Suffolk.

In total, the joint command centre at Martlesham handled 20 fire-related calls, nine which were attended by the military and the remainder were dealt with by retained crews.

In Suffolk 20 retained stations were available to use - of which four were called out to deal with incidents in their areas.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Graham Smith said: "Last night demonstrated that our contingency planning was effective."

One incident that was dealt with last night was a malicious call in St Georges Street, Ipswich.

ACFO Smith said the Peterhouse Close call-out could have also caused problems as it was malicious.

He said: "This was a particularly serious situation, as the call meant that the limited resources were stretched even further while this was investigated.

"We are asking members of the public to be extra vigilant during this period, but must remind people that hoax calls are an additional and dangerous drain on fire cover resources."

He added: "The fire safety message to the public remains the same - in the event of a fire, get out, stay out and dial 999."