Someone in Liverpool came up with the brilliant idea of equipping motorcycles with firefighting equipment.

Liverpool is the first city in the UK to roll out two of the £30,000 bikes, which have pumps with a range of 11 metres, in a six-month pilot scheme.  With 50 litres of water and chemical foam on board each specially modified BMW bike, they are capable as a pair of putting out two burning cars in two minutes.

The man in charge of the project added: "We have no intention of using them to replace fire engines.  "Our two biggest work streams are automated fire alarms and anti-social small fires, which is what they will be used for."

It appears to be a very clever idea.  The bikes can navigate through traffic more quickly than full-size equipment, at lower cost and using less manpower.

Link.  Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.