EMERGENCY services staged a major operation to see how rescuers would cope with a flooding disaster in the Ribble Valley.

Organisers said the exercise had gone well, showing fire, ambulance, police and county council staff could deal with most eventualities.

During the mock disaster, 100 people were 'evacuated' from Ribchester as the River Ribble burst its banks and flooded dozens of homes.

One woman was said to have died from shock, several suffered minor injuries and a handful of youngsters who had spent the night sleeping in tents on the banks of the Ribble were drenched.

Lancashire County Council is responsible for preparing for all manner of emergencies ranging from chemical leaks and sinking ships to rural flooding and aeroplane crashes.

Every year, it holds a different emergency planning exercise to see if ideas would work in practice.

On Saturday, it tested its response to a flooding emergency, simulating an event which involved the police, fire service, ambulance, Red Cross, WRVS, RSPCA, the Environment Agency and other volunteer organisations.

Around 100 volunteers, including people living in Ribchester, played the roles of refugees.

They did not know the 'plot' of the day until they attended a briefing session on Saturday morning.

Likewise, the staff from the various agencies were not aware of how the day was going to unfold.

Among the injuries were people with sprained ankles and cuts and bruises, while other 'refugees' taken to Longridge's Civic Hall -- where the rest centre was set up -- were told to act up concerns over friends, children and how their partners would know where they were.

Bernard Kershaw, head of emergency planning at Lancashire County Council, said: "The exercise has gone very well and it has shown that we are prepared for emergencies which do unfortunately happen. There are some issues we need to look at now, such as improving the way we get information to people and relatives of those injured, and all the groups involved will produce reports about how they felt the day went.

"We will meet them and adjust our plans accordingly."