Twelve fire and rescue services have modified their policies on responding to automatic fire alarms, according to the Fire Industry Association.

The FIA conducted desk-based research which found that most fire services had call challenging in place, but would still attend even if the automatic call could not be verified by a phone call.

The 12 fire services listed by the FIA are: Hampshire; Berkshire; Essex; Norfolk; Northamptonshire; Staffordshire; Warwickshire; West Midlands; West Yorkshire; Cumbria; Greater Manchester and Lancashire. Kent Fire and Rescue plans to require verification of automatic calls from 2012.

The association will be mounting a media campaign to inform local businesses of the changes to their fire and rescue service’s policy on attending automatic fire calls. It will recommend that businesses review their fire risk assessments and contact their detection and alarm maintenance company to review their system if needed.