Major emergency services training exercise in Elland this weekend

The exercise will take place on the restricted use Century Road, in Elland, between 10am and 12.30pm on Sunday.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will work alongside West Yorkshire Police and Yorkshire Ambulance Service for Exercise Valentine - a large scale crash involving multiple ‘casualties’ who require rescue.

It will also involve elements of ‘hazardous materials’ and water rescue.

Actors from a local operatic society will play the role of ‘live’ casualties and the use of a local business’ commercial vehicles will help simulate a realistic incident.

Assistant district commander Toby May, of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This exercise will involve 10 fire engines from across West Yorkshire.

“It is a great example of multi-agency training with regards a major incident.”

Inspector Rachel Bairstow, of Calderdale Police, added: “We are delighted to be able to take part in this valuable training opportunity with colleagues from other blue light services that work to protect the people of Calderdale.

“Exercises like this, enable us to test our ability to deal with large scale incidents and highlight areas where we can adapt our practices to deliver a more efficient service in the future.

“It is imperative, that we continue to work in direct partnership with our colleagues in the fire and ambulance service to deliver the best possible service to our communities, and I am thrilled that we can use this exercise as a live training opportunity for so many officers from across all the organisations.”

Ben Holdaway, locality director of emergency operations in West Yorkshire at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “Ambulance crews and our emergency service colleagues often face the devastating consequences of serious road traffic collisions.

“This exercise provides an ideal opportunity to train with other services and test out our operational procedures.”