The owner of a St Albans care home has been teaching firefighters, police officers and hospital staff how to spot signs of dementia.

Fiona Harrall has been delivering workshops across the county which educate people about the illness so they can support vulnerable members of the public.

This includes learning to look out for erratic behaviour such as setting small kitchen fires which could be early signs of dementia.

So far she has delivered her one-hour sessions to staff at St Albans City Hospital and hundreds of local police officers and fire fighters.

Since attending the workshops firefighters have reported spotting cases of dementia which allowed them to get people the help they needed.

Mrs Harrall was trained as part of the Alzheimer's Society's Dementia Friends initiative, and delivers her sessions voluntarily in her spare time.

She worked as a Chartered Surveyor until five years ago when she and husband Nick, an IT worker, decided they wanted to do something more fulfilling.

The couple founded the St Albans branch of Home Instead Senior Care - a service supporting elderly people who want to stay living at home.

They were inspired to action when Mr Harrall’s aunt and uncle developed dementia and had to live their final years in separate care homes.

Mrs Harrall said: "A lot of people do not know anything about dementia and unless they know someone with it they think don’t think they need to.

"The sessions are about detecting the signs and being helpful.

"This means being understanding, patient and doing little things to help. It has been my pleasure to help people like firefighters understand what dementia, which includes conditions like Alzheimer's, does to people."