The third person to lead Northamptonshire’s fire and rescue service this month set to be confirmed next week

The third person to lead Northamptonshire’s fire and rescue service this month is set to be confirmed in their post next week.

Simon Tuhill joined the service initially as deputy chief fire officer on Tuesday and is currently acting as its interim chief fire officer.

He will be confirmed by the county’s police, fire and crime panel next Thursday.

Mr Tuhill was asked to lead the service after Nicci Marzec quit on Monday after 10 days in the post.

She resigned amid ‘speculation’ over her friendship with Conservative police, fire and crime commissioner Stephen Mold.

Mr Mold appointed her despite a lack of any operational firefighting experience, which angered the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).

Some panel members were left furious when they were not asked to approve Ms Marzec’s appointment before or after it was made.

One, Anita Shields, said on Wednesday that Mr Mold’s position was ‘untenable’.

Mr Tuhill will receive a salary equivalent to £140,000 a year while he acts up in the role. That is an increase of about £13,000 on his agreed deputy fire chief contract.

Mr Mold’s office said the former permanent chief fire officer Mark Jones left the service on July 7 for health reasons.

Mr Tuhill has extensive firefighting experience. He started his career in London, where he worked for 22 years.

He was involved in the response to major incidents including the Paddington rail crash in 1999, the 7/7 bombings in 2005 and the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

He then worked for Hertfordshire’s fire and rescue service, where he worked for three years and managed 29 fire stations.

Papers published ahead of Thursday’s meeting state Mr Mold will advertise for a new permanent chief fire officer in August.

A petition by FBU Northamptonshire calling for Mr Mold’s resignation or his removal by the police, fire and crime panel had been signed by about 160 people on Thursday morning.

The union said Mr Mold’s recent decisions ‘have been nothing short of a sham’.

West Northamptonshire independent councillor Paul Clark, who quit the Conservatives after a public spat in May, has also called for Mr Mold to go.