AN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD from Gillingham, who is obsessed with Fireman Sam, has had her dreams come true, after she became a member of the firefighting team at the weekend.

Tanna Sabourn wants to be a firefighter when she grows up, but her love for the children’s TV show had caused her to get bullied at school.

After her mother published a plea on Facebook in April asking firefighters to get in touch with messages of reassurance, several crews made contact including those in Gillingham and Tisbury.

The Tisbury crew then offered Tanna a virtual tour and answered all of her questions about the job.

If that wasn’t enough, on Saturday the crew delivered goodies to Tanna, courtesy of the creators of Fireman Sam, in addition to her own uniform and pink helmet, donated by Bristol Uniforms and MSA. The Tisbury crew then showed her around the fire engine.

Cara Hennis, Tanna’s mother, said that the crew made the 11-year-old “feel like she was really part of the team”, adding: “This response has just been amazing, what these firefighters have done I can’t thank them enough.

“Back in April I put everything on Facebook because [Tanna] is obsessed with firefighters, but kids started taking the mick and she has always struggled with friendships.

“I just hoped that if any firefighters could give a message saying that [Fireman Sam] is quite cool that would be amazing, and it really did make her day.”

A statement from Tisbury Fire Station said: “A couple of months ago we were made aware of a local girl who loves Fireman Sam and was getting a bit of stick about it. So we decided to see what we could do to help.

"We started off with a video message next to Jupiter and followed it up with a virtual tour of the fire engine.

"We then with some help of some awesome people managed to get her some gifts which we presented to her on Saturday.”

Cara said she was “speechless” when she was told Tanna would be presented with gifts on Saturday.

She added: “The difference all of this has made to her has been huge, she has gone back to school with this new confidence. And she is adamant she is going to be Fireman Sam.

“The look on her face when they arrived [on Saturday] - it was just amazing. They even put the fire truck lights and sirens on for her.”

In one final promise to Tanna, the crew assured her that she will be able to join firefighters on their truck during the next carnival procession.