The scenario simulated an incident where a hot air balloon had caught fire and crashed into a quarry leaving multiple victims with a range of injuries.

Police commanded the exercise along representatives from Mountain Rescue, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue, Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) from the ambulance service and Devon and Cornwall 4x4 response, who also took part.

Actors were brought and details of the exercise were not shared publicly to allow the services to respond spontaneously as they would in a real incident.

Alliance Operations Commander, Chief Superintendent Glen Mayhew said: “What the team designed today was a replication of a potential scenario that emergency services could be called to. We needed it to be as realistic as possible to allow the people taking part to really immerse themselves in the training. This is a complex work environment, there’s a lot going on, a lot to think about. Training for Search and Rescue incidents is absolutely vital and exercises like this are a great opportunity to look at how each of the agencies work, and how we can work best together."