AMBULANCE services rushed to the scene of a test biological and chemical attack in Chippenham on Wednesday to display a new system of coping with terrorist attacks.

Wiltshire ambulance service has recently introduced decontamination tents and new medical procedures in line with government guidelines following the September 11 terrorist attacks on America.

Medical staff took part in a training exercise at the training college in Chippenham on Wednesday to promote the Triage system designed to identify casualties at the scene of an accident.

Alan Morris, group station officer for the ambulance service said: "The techniques on display today were planned to cope with a range of disasters from biological or chemical attacks to something on the scale of September 11."

The Triage system was designed and created by doctors working for SP Services and Wiltshire ambulance service adopted it earlier this year.

Every ambulance carries a pack of coloured cards to be placed on casualties so the medical service can prioritise patients.

Decontamination tents, designed to clean people after a biological or chemical attack, were also used at the training day.

Officials from the nuclear and aviation industry were on hand to note how the procedure was carried out.