FIRE crews staged a mock road crash during the first training session with paramedics in Pendle.

Officers demonstrated their skills using specialist cutting equipment in the exercise at Nelson’s Bradley Road station.

The training was led by crew manager and road traffic collision instructor Rob Barker yesterday afternoon.

Crew manager Barker said: “The whole event was about improving working relationships between the two emergency services.

“Training like this is vital as, without it, the only times we meet are at the scene of an accident.

“We always work professionally together, but training like this can only help us to help accident victims.

“The firefighters walked the six paramedics through a serious collision, in slow time, and the paramedics added their input.

“In the stimulated accident we had to cut the roof off a car, while a paramedic climbed into the vehicle to reassure the patient.

“This is the first time training like this has been run in Pendle and I hope to build on this and create a better service for people who find themselves in serious incidents.”

The vehicle used in the stimulation was donated by a local scrap yard.

Fire chiefs hope to stage further training stimulations with the ambulance service.