You can buy all sorts on Facebook Marketplace – but what about a fully working fire engine?

The bright red emergency vehicle is owned by an ex-Kent firefighter who bought it to protect his own period thatched village home near Canterbury.

And he even had to use it to hose down his home when embers from a neighbouring blaze threatened to set his roof alight.

“When the official firefighters arrived, they were surprised to see me already hosing it down,” says Kris Saxby.

The 61-year-old was based at Folkestone with Kent Fire and Rescue Service for 14 years before moving to Preston, near Wingham. He opened the village’s Marleybrook House wedding venue with his wife Janie, where they also have a unique vintage fairground for guests.

He bought the 1994 Dennis fire engine – complete with ladders, fully working pumps, uniforms and even oxygen masks – about seven years ago.

But now he says it is “surplus to requirements” and he has put it up for sale for a mere £3,800 with “sensible” offers invited.

“It’s not your everyday vehicle and so a bit specialist for Facebook Marketplace but I thought I’d give it a go,” he told KentOnline.

“It’s been standing in a field for quite a while but we put a couple of new batteries in it recently and it fired up first time and is certainly a runner, but needs a bit of TLC.

“We’ve had lots of people clicking on it but no actual offers yet,”

Mr Saxby says he used to take his three children to school in it but the teachers were worried it was alarming parents who feared there might be a fire, so asked him to stop.

“I have even picked up brides and grooms in it, which was quite fun,” he said.

“If it doesn’t sell, we may well convert it into a quirky bar for the venue….”

“But we have some different fire prevention measures on the site now so it’s not really needed,” he said.

“It’s worth noting that it doesn’t need an MOT certificate and is road tax free but anyone driving it will need the relevant HGV class licence.”

“If it doesn’t sell, we may well convert it into a quirky bar for the venue,” he added.