A MAJOR exercise is planned to put Calderdale to the test should a flood occur again.

The council, emergency services and community will rehearse the action that would be taken during and after a flood.

It will include a live search and rescue operation.

The major exercise will take place on Friday, October 20 but the exact details of the training exercise have not been disclosed as the idea is to test how prepared teams are.

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The flood sirens will be tested and the community hubs will be opened in Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Sowerby Bridge, Elland and Brighouse.

Each siren test will last for two minutes and loud hailer vehicles will be used to alert people to the test.

It comes after the 2015 Boxing Day flood that devastated parts of the borough.

Clr Tim Swift, Calderdale Council’s leader, said: “It’s vital to be as prepared as possible for any major incident, and to reassure local people that the council and other organisations are ready to respond.

“We learned a lot from last year’s exercise, and we were keen that it wouldn’t be a one-off – we want to keep learning and improving our ability to deal with incidents like flooding.”

Teams taking part include the council, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, West Yorkshire Police, the Environment Agency and Calder Valley Search and Rescue.