AN emergency training exercis scheduled to take place in Worcester this weekend has been postponed because of the effects of the fuel crisis.

The county council's head of emergency planning, Dr John Asquith, was not prepared to reveal the nature of the Major Incident Exercise that had been planned to take place at Diglis Basin on Sunday.

Worcestershire County Council had been due to liaise with the police, rescue services, and the health service on Sunday.

"The exercise has now been scheduled for next spring and I don't want to say too much about it at this stage, other than the exercise would have concerned a river incident," said Dr Asquith.

"The police cancelled leave during the fuel crisis and now there is a backlog.

"They did not want to earmark Sunday as a day when officers would be expected to turn out for a training exercise."

A spokesman for West Mercia police said a small team of officers were responsible for co-ordinating the force's response to major emergencies.

"These officers have been fully committed to dealing with the fuel crisis and are now busy putting together contingency plans," he said.

"We believed it would be inappropriate to take part in a training exercise when the officers are committed to a public safety role at the moment."

Despite detailed planning procedures for dealing with large-scale disorder and disruption to services, the county council had no dedicated fuel depot of its own, admitted Dr Asquith.

"We haven't had one for several years," he said. "However we are now looking into the possibility of securing one."