HUDDERSFIELD was left reeling after it was struck by a major rail disaster.

But people have no need to panic - the `disaster' on Saturday was no more than a training exercise.

The exercise centred on an imaginary scenario which involved a train heading from Manchester to Middlesborough catching fire and stopping in Huddersfield.

In the scenario, one passenger died and three were injured, while the rest of the passengers were evacuated.

A team of about 100 volunteers played the part of the evacuees and were initially taken to St Patrick's Centre on Trinity Street before being bussed to a `survivor reception centre' at Huddersfield Sports Centre.

Such centres are set up by local authorities after major incidents. They provide a place for survivors to rest, eat and receive care. Agencies also use the centres to question survivors in order to piece together what happened before, during and after a major incident.

Each of the `survivors' on Saturday were given specific problems that needed resolving and were told to ask certain questions to test the agencies.

Agencies involved in the exercise included Kirklees Council, West Yorkshire Police, British Transport Police, Women's Royal Voluntary Service, the Red Cross, St John Ambulance, Salvation Army, Radio Amateurs and West Yorkshire Churches.

The Rail Incident Care Team from First TransPennine Express also took part. The team, set up two years ago, is a group of trained volunteers who liaise with the train company to help survivors with issues such as lost luggage.

The event was co-ordinated by Helen Brighton, chairman of West Yorkshire Resilience Forum of Voluntary Organisations.

She said: "For years people in the local community have helped the emergency services to prepare and practice for emergency situations.

"These exercises are vital in helping us test and reaffirm our joint emergency procedures. All of our volunteers play a vital role in our plans.

"This particular exercise gave us the opportunity to work together in a reasonably realistically-charged atmosphere."

Sean Westerby, emergency planning manager for Kirklees Council, said the support of volunteers was vital to helping authorities to be prepared.

He said: "This day would not have been possible without the many volunteers who gave up their time to make this exercise as real as possible, so many thanks to everyone involved."