Exercise tests terror scenario in city

Emergency services held a live training exercise yesterday to test the response to a terror attack in Lincoln.

The exercise was staged at the University of Lincoln and involved armed police, East Midlands Ambulance Service staff, and firefighters.

They focused on how they would respond to a terrorist attack at the campus, an exercise similar to others carried out across the country – it was not conducted in response to any specific threat to the county or the university.

The scenario saw a number of ‘terrorists’, who were played by actors, using weapons to assault people in a crowded place in the university grounds.

Over 200 emergency services and university staff were involved in the planning and execution of the exercise.

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Davison said: "We have spent a number of months planning this exercise and it’s given us the chance to test exactly how we would respond to a threat such as this, and how we would work with other agencies in ensuring an attack like this is brought to a conclusion as swiftly and safely as possible.

"We’re not immune here in Lincolnshire. People automatically think of big cities as being targets because they’re so densely populated and while that is true it’s not out of the question that something like this could happen in a less busy city. The national threat remains at ‘substantial’ and so we have to ensure we are as prepared as we can be in the event that terrorism does come to our county.

"We have a positive relationship with our blue light colleagues and those from other agencies across the county and this exercise has only served to strengthen those ties. I want to thank the University of Lincoln for allowing us to use their buildings and grounds, and the volunteers who gave their time to make this scenario as realistic as possible."