Today (November 9), marks the anniversary of the tram crash which saw seven people lose their lives and more than 50 others injured

Firefighter Andy Roe was the Incident Commander on the day of the tram crash last year and described the 12 months since as "nothing I've seen before."

“Those first crews arrived and quickly got to work on a challenging rescue with a 60 tonne tram on its side in the rain pitch dark," he said.

"Firefighters were outstanding and worked tirelessly to rescue as many people as quickly and as safely as possible.

"They showcased rescue skills which are among the best in the world. To carefully lift and rescue those saveable lives from the tram took real professional understanding of how the tram was going to react and meant incredible teamwork achieve that within 90 minutes.

“The incident will have a lasting impact on the area, the victims and their families and the firefighters who attended.

"The 150 firefighter’s attending were contacted by Counselling and Welfare with some receiving more long term support, their welfare being incredibly important."

Firefighters will attend a memorial service alongside emergency service colleagues, victims’ families and local politicians in New Addington to mark the first anniversary of the Croydon tram crash.

“It was a very significant incident which really impacted the local community on a cold and wet November morning," Mr Roe said.

“It was the first major tram crash with loss of life since the 1800s and those commuters would have never imagined what they were going to face on their way to work. Our thoughts remain with those who were injured in the crash and those who lost loved ones.

“I also want to thank the crews who worked alongside my that morning. As a firefighter you never know what you’re going to attend and this was one of the most challenging incidents many of them they would have ever faced."