It is one of a fleet of eight which have been bought by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to be used across the county.

As well as being used to support a variety of community safety initiatives, it will also be able to help the larger appliances at incidents including traffic collisions, car fires and other small fires if it is close by.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue group manager, Danny Westmoreland, said: "A key priority for us is to enhance community safety facilities and intervention capabilities.

"To support this, a fleet of eight purpose-built CSVs are currently in use across North Yorkshire, including here in the Whitby area."

Staff at the fire stations where the vehicles are based have contributed to the development of the vehicles and the types of equipment to be carried.

The equipment will enable initial actions to be taken to minimise the effects of an incident in its early stages, before the arrival of a full scale fire appliance.

Group manager Westmoreland stressed the new vehicle did not mean a reduction in the level of fire cover.

He said: "We still also have the same number of full fire appliances operating and responding around the county.

"The aim is to enhance our level of service through the use of an early intervention capability, where a full-scale fire appliance might take longer to reach an incident.

"The vehicles represent a real win in terms of community safety for our local communities."