During the exercise, the emergency services dealt with a simulated collision involving multiple vehicles. While the tunnel operators were responding to the initial collision, a second collision was simulated further back with one vehicle catching fire and filling the tunnel with smoke.
The aim of the exercise was to test the response of the emergency services dealing with a road traffic collision and fire inside the tunnel. It is a legal requirement that a full-scale exercise is carried out every four years. The tunnel was closed in both directions overnight with a clearly signed diversion in place.
The joint exercise was attended by tunnel operators and emergency services from Surrey and Hampshire that could potentially be called to a real incident inside the tunnel.
