Fitness tests for women entering the fire service may need to be reviewed because there are so few female firefighters, according to HM inspectors.

Just 5.7 per cent of firefighters are women, which is “too low,” said Zoe Billingham, HM Inspector of fire and rescue services.

“Most fire services are not attractive employers to wide swathes of their communities so they are not accessing the widest talent pool possible,” she said. “Are selection tests creating a barrier?”

Staff in more than half the fire services they inspected told them they felt the recruitment standards had already been quietly “lowered to ensure more female applicants were successful.”

Selection tests currently include dragging a 55kg (8st 9lbs) “casualty” walking backwards in full kit around a 30-metre course, raising a bar with up to 15kg on it to a height of 182 cms (5ft 11ins) and climbing a ladder to a second storey height in full kit and demonstrate a leg lock.