National Highways has released dramatic images of an emergency exercise in the Southwick Tunnel in West Sussex.
The drill – codenamed Exercise Higgins – involving a road traffic incident and an electric vehicle fire, was carried out last week in the A27 tunnel.
National Highways said the location has bizarrely 'long been subject to speculation that it is the entrance to a secret military bunker'.
Over 100 people were involved in this multi-agency emergency exercise. As well National Highways, participants from West Sussex Fire Rescue Service, East Sussex Fire Rescue Service, local authorities and the Environment Agency also took part.
John Nicholas, Southwick Tunnel manager at National Highways said: ‘The A27 Southwick Tunnel live exercise is one of the many opportunities that National Highways takes to work with local emergency services, local authorities and stakeholders to test, validate and train in a controlled environment on the strategic road network.
‘The planning and preparation for these events takes many hours of dedication from each participating organisation which leads to improvements in training, refinements in procedures, reprioritisation of investment works with better working knowledge and stronger working relationships for all involved.’
The Southwick Hill Tunnel, one of seven road tunnels in the South East operated by National Highways, is a 490-metre twin bore road directed to the north of Southwick.
It opened in 1996 as a part of the A27 Brighton bypass and carries the road under Southwick Hill.
