Sellafield emergency plans tested

Hundreds of people will take part in an exercise to test the emergency procedures at the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria.

Site workers, emergency services, the Army and government agencies will be involved in Wednesday's drill.

It will centre on the Sellafield site and West Cumbria Emergency Control Centre, near Whitehaven.

Organisers said there would be a large number of emergency vehicles but that there would be no impact on the public.

Whitehaven School will be used as a mock media briefing centre for the drill, which is held every three years.

Cumbria County Council assistant director for public protection Mike Smyth said: "This county has been at the forefront of developing plans for dealing with emergency situations for many years, including an incident at Sellafield."