THESE were the startling scenes when emergency workers held a special staged rescue at a North Yorkshire power station.

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service’s extraction team showed the effects of a car crash with the assistance of staff from Eggborough Power Ltd, by hoisting a car 30 feet into the air and dropping it onto concrete.

The car, which fell at about 23mph, contained a mannequin in the driver’s seat, and the crew quickly set about “rescuing” the trapped “motorist” for a crowd of emergency services staff, power station employees and media.

Andy Young, team manager, said the team, made up of fire servicemen and women from across the county, dealt with similar types of car crash on a regular basis.

He said: “This is the first time we have done an extrication which has been set up this way, although we have performed in competitions around the UK and Europe.

“The team itself is drawn from all over the county and, on a daily basis, teams across the region attend road traffic collisions of this type.” Last year almost 100 accidents on North Yorkshire roads involved alcohol, resulting in more than 130 casualties, 39 of which were serious.

In October, the extraction team was rated the best of 42 teams across the country, and later this year it will fly to New Zealand to represent the UK Fire Service at the World Rescue Championship.

Chris Henderson, deputy fire chief, said: “From our point of view, it went really well.

“Obviously we’re here to publicise a very important message about drink-driving and driving safely.

“The team doing the demonstration today are of a national and international high standing, and have been showing the difficulties people can get into.”

The team made the vehicle safe and rescued Alan the dummy in a total of 19 minutes and 45 seconds.

John Henderson, safety manager for Eggborough Power Ltd, said the company was happy to host the event.