PETROL bombs were thrown and a protest was held as emergency services were thrown into some of the most high pressure situations they will face.

It was all part of training exercise to test their skills and ability to work together during major incidents, whilst providing them with an invaluable experience they can drawn upon in the future.

Police officers, paramedics and firefighters from across Cumbria took part in the two-and-a-half hour exercise at the headquarters of Cumbria Police and Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service in Penrith on Thursday.

It was part of the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP), set up nationally to improve the way the emergency services work together to respond to multi-agency incidents.

Chief Inspector Andy Wilkinson said: “[We] are working closer together than ever before. Exercises such as this are invaluable in helping to ensure that when a multi-agency incident does occur, everyone knows what each agency is doing, how they go about their work and what can be done by each agency to help the response run as effectively and efficiently as possible.

“The scenarios put men and women from all three agencies into high-pressure situations. But they are situations they may one day face and so the experience can prove invaluable.”

Police were tested in their response to public order incidents, with a protest acted out by Cumbria Police Cadets and plain-clothed officers. They also faced aggressive chanting, people throwing bricks - or wooden blocks in this case - and even petrol bombs.

The scenarios of a serious road traffic collision involving pedestrians was also set up, with police first on the scene, quickly followed by paramedics and Cumbria Fire and Rescue.

Ch Insp Wilkinson added thanks to all those involved, including in the planning stages, particularly Proactive Support Group Inspector Kim Brennand.

“The high-level of knowledge and professionalism on display from all agencies in this complex and evolving, tri-services exercise, involving live-time deployment, was impressive to witness," he said.