A former factory site has been given a new potentially life-saving lease of life.
Bakkavor, the owners of the old Exotic Farm Produce site in Kirton, have been loaning the site free of charge to the area’s emergency services for a training arena.
Police officers and fire services have been carrying out important training and scenario-based training, which could help them save lives in a real emergency situation.
Since April of this year, the police dog handling unit train on average once a week at the site with ten dogs and handlers, plus their instructor.
The fenced site provides a safe environment for the police to train in away from the public and has recently been officially signposted for “police training with dogs in operation”.
In addition, Boston firefighters use the site to set up scenarios through which they recreate and practice real life emergency responses.
As the local fire service is close to Bakkavor factories in Spalding and Boston, the knowledge of fire systems and plans gained from the training on site is invaluable and promotes a best practice approach to factory call outs.
The old Exotic Farm Produce site is not only used for training but is part of the contingency plan to host the fire services should their current site be damaged in any way.
Nick Morris, Watch Commander Support for Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said: “The team is extremely grateful to Bakkavor for allowing us to carry out our training and emergency simulation exercises on their old Exotic Farm Produce site.
“This is a great example of how local agencies can partner together for the good of the community.”