Walkers and boaters out on the Kennet & Avon Canal on Sunday morning will see the emergency services out in force at Horton, near Devizes, but they shouldn’t worry.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is teaming up with the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust to carry out an exercise to test procedures for an incident on the water.

The scenario will be based on a passenger boat, carrying up to 30 people, experiencing a severe fire.

Crews from Devizes and Calne fire stations will take part in the exercise, together with Wiltshire Police and South Western Ambulance Service.

Station manager Darren Nixon said: “The trust was keen to test and review its emergency plans in a realistic way, so it was an ideal opportunity for us to carry out an exercise and build on firefighters’ understanding of the challenges involved with incidents on the canal.

 “Given the number of boats that travel along the Kennet & Avon Canal each year, this stretch of water is seen by us as a high risk area and we have had a number of boat fires over the years.

"We do a lot of community safety work with the boating community to try and prevent such incidents from happening – however, we also need to be sure that, should the worst happen, we are as prepared as we can be to deal with it.”

Graham Day, of the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust, said: “We own and operate four passenger boats along the canal and deliver hundreds of trips, so we have to be certain that our emergency plans are robust and will work should a fire break out.

"A ‘live’ test with the fire & rescue service seemed an ideal opportunity, and we are looking forward to seeing how things pan out on the day.

"We are very grateful to all the services for supporting this training event so enthusiastically.”