Emergency services carry out huge test scenario at Meadowhall

The exercise, in the early hours of Monday, formed part of a national programme required under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

Deputy Chief Con Mark Roberts, from South Yorkshire Police, said: “This was an extremely positive and useful exercise which tests our collective ability to respond to an emergency on a large scale. 

“In this particular case, we chose to focus on a terrorism incident but this is not in response to a specific threat. The threat level to the UK remains at ‘severe’ as it has been since August 2014.

“The learning from today’s exercise will be fully debriefed and any learning will feed through to our policies, plans and procedures for the future.”

The exercise had only been possible thanks to the 856 volunteers who took part, deputy Chief Con Roberts added.

“They have played a key part in ensuring South Yorkshire remains a safe place to live, learn and work,” he said.

“Although this was an exercise, the environment created is as realistic as possible. We saw officers and staff from each of the agencies, and members of the public carry out brave acts to secure the safety of others. It reminded us all why we do the job we do.”