A major emergency exercise is taking place at the Port of Dover today, involving organisations and agencies from across Kent.

Staff are dealing with a simulated marine incident involving a ferry heading for Dover, allowing multi-agency emergency procedures to be extensively tested.

Police, fire, ambulance and coastguard services, Kent County Council, Dover, Shepway and Thanet district councils, the Environment Agency, P&O Ferries, G4S and Border Force officials are involved.

The port is remaining open throughout the exercise.

Port chief executive Tim Waggott said: “Such exercises are vital to ensuring that we can effectively and professionally deal with potential incidents in the best way possible.

“Working with our partners in Kent is extremely important to us and crucial to the resilience of our operations. We take the safety and security of the port and our customers very seriously, and such exercises are an essential part of that.”

P&O Ferries is providing a vessel so the exercise can be as realistic as possible. Kent Police are working together with Port of Dover Police in responding to the ‘emergency’.

Dover District Council be responsible for a survivor reception centre for volunteers posing as affected customers.