Multi-agency arrangements to deal with major flooding in Surrey were tested this week when Surrey Police joined forces with its partners for one of the biggest ever national emergency exercises.

Exercise Watermark, a week-long initiative coordinated by the Environment Agency, was held throughout England and Wales between 4 – 11 March to test preparedness to respond to severe, wide-area flooding.

Split into national, regional and local play, the exercise involved a range of flooding scenarios which on Tuesday (8 March) involved Surrey’s Local Resilience Forum - a partnership made up of the chief officers of organisations which would respond to an emergency including Surrey Police, Surrey County Council, Surrey Fire and Rescue and South East Coast Ambulance Service.

Assistant Chief Constable Jerry Kirkby said: “Exercise Watermark provided us with a valuable opportunity to work together to test the multi-agency arrangements put into place to deal with flooding and infrastructure emergencies.

“Partners in Surrey work hard to keep the public safe and the county is always prepared for major incidents with detailed and well-rehearsed contingency plans which are regularly updated.

“This was a chance to put our plans into practice and underline the resilience of both Surrey Police and its partner agencies. All those taking part in the exercise rose to the challenge of dealing with a major flooding incident and any lessons learned will be incorporated into our plans for the future.”