'Chemical spill' tests fire crews

Firefighters practice their response in decontamination suits

Emergency services based in Avon and Somerset are due to carry out a disaster exercise on Wednesday.

The staged event will test crews' ability to respond to an incident involving chemical substances in the Avonmouth industrial area.

The area operates a system of sirens - set up in 1999 - which warn residents of dangerous chemical spills in the Severnside area.

It is activated from police headquarters at nearby Portishead and was instigated following two fires at the Albright and Wilson plant which released clouds of toxic smoke.

Up to 14,000 people living in the Avonmouth and Shirehampton areas have been sent leaflets explaining what to do in the event of a real emergency.

The advice is to shut windows, stay indoors and listen for information on local radio.

Very remote

On Wednesday the sirens will be tested in response to an incident staged at one of the chemical plants at Avonmouth.

Emergency services will try out their decontamination equipment and local hospitals will take part to see how they would cope with casualties.

Kelvin Hattersley of Bristol City Council, said: "We have deliberately chosen an extreme scenario in order to enable us to test a number of emergency plans and arrangements.

"However, we want people to be reassured that the councils, the companies and the emergency services are geared up to respond to even the worst possible incident imaginable."