ARMED police and emergency services descended on Aberystwyth University on Thursday after a group of protesters were “held hostage at gunpoint”.

Luckily for those involved it was all part of a police training exercise to test the major incident plans in place to deal with such a crisis.

Uniformed and armed officers from Dyfed-Powys Police are working closely with Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Wales Ambulance Service and the National Police Air Service (NPAS) as part of the exercise.

At just after 10.30am on Thursday morning, a group of “protesters” gathered in a car park above Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

Their cries of “free education” were interrupted by a gunman, who took the 20 people “hostage”.

Holed up in Cwrt Mawr halls of residence, the police, university, fire crews and ambulance used the exercise to test their response to major incidents.

Little is known of the scenario or the outcome of the training exercise, with press banned from watching or taking photos during the “hostage situation”.

The exercise featured 20 volunteers from the university staff to act as hostages, with dozens of emergency service personnel on scene.

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