IT was very reassuring to see our ambulance and medical services putting their skills for fighting a terrorist attack through their paces this week, but let's hope they are never used for real.

Following the events in New York on September 11 2001 most of the western world has remained on alert.

Although an attack on north Wiltshire is highly unlikely, it is great too see how fully equipped our emergency services are.

We often hear fears in the national press that London is the next likely target for terrorists and we saw the extent to which emergency services practiced their skills in the centre of economy and politics in a recent training exercise.

But it is extremely reassuring to find out that even in the shire counties we are protected by staff fully trained to cope with such an emergency.

On Wednesday medics also displayed a new triage system which will identify the seriousness of injuries at the scene of an accident and it is not just victims of major catastrophe that will benefit.

The Government has called for such training to be put in place and Wiltshire Ambulance Service has been praised for their work but it was truly frightening to see a row of tents lined up to clean victims following a chemical or biological attack.

Although everyone recognises that we wish these initiatives are never used, there is nothing better than being prepared for any eventuality and by looking at the scenes on Wednesday it seems we all are.