MALVERN'S rebuilt fire station got its official opening on Friday, with Lady Rosalind Morrison the special guest who unveiled the plaque.

And among the guests at the ceremony were a group of school children fromCradley Primary School, who designed an award-winning mural inside the station.

The fire station was recently subject to a £1.5 million refurbishment, which drastically altered the appearance of the building, first opened in 1986.

The building's distinctive triangular profile has been replaced with a more orthodox rectangular flat-roofed structure.

The work was carried out by the Pershore-based firm Spectus and a range of local subcontractors, and the front of the building, facing on to Worcester Road, has been finished with Malvern stone.

At the ceremony were the chief fire officer Mark Yates, ire authority chairman Derek Prodger, Malvern Hills District Council chairman Mike Morgan, Supt Mark Travis from West Mercia Police and Michelle Brotherton from the West Midlands Ambulance Service.

Also present was Frank Parkinson, who was the chief fire office when the original building on the site was opened in 1986.

Rob Allen, station commander at Malvern and Evesham, said: "The guests had a tour of the station, were given a show-and-tell of the equipment we use and the plaques was unveiled by Lady Morrison."

The new building is much more energy-efficient than its predecessor, with up-to-date, heating, water and air-conditioning systems making it significantly cheaper to run.

Cradley Primary School was the winner of a competition to create an artwork for the inside of the station, beating eight other schools to be selected.

The other schools which entered the competition were the Wyche, Northleigh, Madresfield, St Joseph's, Leigh and Bransford, Great Malvern, St Matthias and Somers Park.

"We will be inviting pupils from all of these schools to visit us and have tours of the station in the new year," said Mr Allen.