North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is building on the success of their student safety campaign by working in partnership with local universities to help protect students from fires in their homes.

Firefighters have been promoting fire safety to students atBangorand Glyndŵr universities for a number of years but are now expanding on the campaign by focusing on students in private rented accommodation.

Terry Williams, Head of Community Safety, explains more: "We've been working with bothBangorand Glyndŵr universities on our successful student campaign for a number of years, talking to students at the freshers fairs and giving safety advice to those residing at the halls of residence.

"This has proved extremely successful and we've had some great feedback. This year, we've decided to build on this success by targeting students in private accommodation - earlier this year we conducted some well attended landlord forums, giving advice and information to landlords, and over the coming weeks we'll be visiting student properties, offering a free specially branded mug to those taking up the offer of a free home fire safety check.

"We're also promoting the campaign on Facebook, asking students to click a link to register for a free home fire safety check -  firefighters will visit their homes to check their safety and give advice about major causes of fires including overloading extension leads, candles and cooking after drinking to help keep students studying in North Wales as safe as possible."

Jo Smith, Safety, Health and Environmental Manager atGlyndŵrUniversityin Wrexham, said: "The safety of our students is paramount whether living in University managed accommodation or in the private sector.

"Any private landlords that display information on our 'student pad' section of the website either hold a HMO Licence or are accredited by  The Landlord Accreditation Wales Scheme, a national project run by the 22 Local Authorities in Wales.

"We have worked in partnership with North Wales Fire and Rescue for many years and look forward to this continuing in the future. "

Steph Barbaresi, Head of Student Support atBangorUniversity, added: "We're delighted to work with North Wales Fire and Rescue Service to remind our students about the importance of fire safety. We hope that the free home fire safety checks will remind all our students of the importance of fire safety."

Free Home Fire Safety checks are available for al residents in North Wales, not just students - for a free home fire safety check and advice on fire safety in your home, please call North Wales Fire and Rescue Service's free 24 hour hotline on 0800 169 1234 or visit www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk or text 88365, ensuring you prefix your message with the word HFSC.