LYDNEY'S Severnbanks Primary School became the setting for evacuees in an exercise that tested emergency plans.

The simulation, organised by Gloucestershire County Council and the Forest of Dean District Council, involved 110 volunteer 'evacuees' including children on their school holidays.

It involved district councils from across Gloucestershire, the County Council, Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Police, and voluntary organisations including the WRVS, St John Ambulance, and the British Red Cross.

The exercise was funded by the Gloucestershire Local Resilience Forum which is the body that brings together a number of different organisations to ensure that Gloucestershire is prepared in the event of an emergency.

As volunteer evacuees arrived they were given a role to play and then booked into the 'rest centre' and looked after as they would be in a real emergency.

Staff who manned the rest centre had challenges to deal with including looking after a vulnerable person with dementia, checking up on someone with chicken pox, providing dry clothing, communicating with Dutch and Welsh speaking evacuees and helping someone who had not brought their diabetes medicine with them.

Julie Jones, whose usual role is to manage the Democratic Services team at the Forest of Dean District Council, was one of two rest centre managers on the day. She said: "It was a good day and there was a real sense of everyone working together and supporting each other.

"It was good to put all the plans into practice and be confident that in a real emergency we can give the best possible support to the community."

Cllr Terry Hale, cabinet member for the Community at the Forest of Dean District Council, attended the event and experienced what it was like being an evacuee. He said: "Through taking part I found out first hand what it is like in a rest centre. When getting 'booked in' by staff everyone was so friendly and welcoming which was heartening.

"It was good to see so many people there on the day working together. It really was a valuable learning exercise where staff who would man a rest centre gained realistic experience of what they might encounter in a real emergency. Thanks to everyone who took part and to Severnbanks School for allowing us to use their premises.

"We hope we don't need to put our emergency plans into action for real but if we do the people of the Forest of Dean and Gloucestershire as a whole should be reassured that we are prepared."

You can follow the Gloucestershire LRF on Twitter at @Glos_Prepared to keep up with the latest news on planning for emergencies.