Marlie Farm fire deaths compensation paid to families

A huge blast at the site sent fireworks and debris flying across the area

Families of two firefighters killed in a fireworks factory blast have received compensation, union officials said.

Firefighter Geoff Wicker and cameraman Brian Wembridge died in the fire in Shortgate, East Sussex, in 2006.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said £510,250 has now been paid to the families of Mr Wicker and Mr Wembridge and seven injured staff.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it was not commenting on the payouts.

'Totally unacceptable'

The final payout came in March nearly 10 years after the blasts, the FBU said.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, said the delay was "totally unacceptable" and the fallout from the case raised fundamental questions for firefighters and fire officials.

He said: "It has raised a huge problem because if firefighters are called to incidents, basically their employer might say that if anything goes wrong it's down to you."

At the High Court in London in July 2013, Mr Justice Irwin said after analysing evidence that the families were entitled to damages from the fire service.

But Zurich, the insurer for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, decided to appeal against the judgment - a move that was later dropped.

Massive explosion

Mr Wicker, 49, and Mr Wembridge, 63, were among the first at the scene of the fire at the Festival Fireworks site at Marlie Farm, near Lewes, on 3 December 2006.

Twenty others, mainly police and fire officers, were injured in the massive explosion which sent fireworks and debris flying across the area.

Gary Walsh, East Sussex Fire and Rescue's chief fire officer, said: "As the current chief of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, I am pro-actively taking steps to ensure that such an incident does not happen again either within our service area or in other service areas."

Festival Fireworks' owners, father and son Martin and Nathan Winter, were convicted of the men's manslaughter by gross negligence and jailed in 2009.