HERE'S an accountant's equation that works: Handsome firefighter + girlies on a night-out + fire engine turned dream machine = Firemansliftsyork, a lucrative business that trades on emergency fantasies.

The accountant is Sharon Higgins, 31, the firefighter is Steve Higgins, 29, and together they linked arms with Richard Coning, 32, a farmer from Alne, Easingwold, to offer hen nights to remember in an internally "glammed up" out-of-service fire engine.

It is such a successful formula that the venture is pitching for the New Business of the Year in the 2004 Evening Press Business Awards and Stephen is being nominated as the Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

The idea of ferrying around hen night revellers celebrating a last night of freedom, first occurred to Steve, of Bridlington two years ago, when he bought the fire engine at auction - a 14-year-old Volvo recently retired from West Yorkshire Fire Service.

During his four years as a firefighter in Bridlington he often witnessed the positive public response to a passing fire engine, and decided to tap into that fascination as a market.

Now he is giving so many hens a fireman's lift into the engine fitted out inside to look like an eight-seater limousine (and where inside champagne awaits), that the trio are thinking of getting another one within the next 12 months.

After attending seminars organised by Business Link York and North Yorkshire and drawing up their business plan, they were offered bank loans, but decided that as all three of them still had full- time employment they would invest in the project themselves.

Renting a space for the fire engine from Richard's father, who opened a farm with outbuildings, the two men stripped out the pump and water tank to bring the vehicle's weight to below 7.5 tonnes so that it could be taxed as Private/HGV. Fire engines are normally exempt from having an MOT, but not this one.

Steve said: "Finding a testing station which knew how to test our vehicle was no small order, but we persevered and got there."

With the help of a recent Evening Press article and word-of-mouth business, they now expect steady growth and that second fire engine.

There are plans to arrange packages with hotels and health and beauty businesses, linking with them to offer "hens" all in one, including hotel stay, hair and beauty treatments as well as transport.

Updated: 10:23 Wednesday, August 25, 2004