COUNTY Durham residents are in safe hands as a group of trainee firefighters have just passed their apprenticeships – with one of them achieving some of the best marks in the country. Fire service apprentice Connor Moir finished his apprenticeship this week with distinctions in every area, which placed him in the top 2 per cent of fire service apprentices in the UK. In 2017, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service joined forces with New College Durham to offer a business fire safety and firefighter apprenticeships. The programme aims to prepare apprentices to be firefighters. Connor, from Newton Hall, Durham, was part of the first cohort of apprentices to join the scheme.