Health staff had to deal with a range of simulated injuries

Emergency services and health officials tested responses to a potential chemical terror attack on Newcastle.

Exercise Magpie, organised by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), involved doctors, hospital staff, firefighters and police officers.

HPA Director in the North East, Vivien Hollyoak, said the agency would now examine any lessons from the event.

The exercise involved a simulated chemical gas attack on a crowded city centre theatre in which 14 people "died" when the deadly poison Sarin was released.

Another 30 people showed symptoms of the nerve agent, while the remainder of the 200-strong audience were examined by medical staff.

Fire crews in protective chemical suits and police in black SAS-style gas masks rushed to Newcastle city centre to deal with the catastrophe.

Debriefing sessions

Ms Hollyoak said the agency would now examine the results of the exercise.

She said: "From initial impressions, it seems the whole day has been very successful.

"The field exercise where we decontaminated 200 casualties finished one hour ahead of the anticipated finishing time.

"We had a large number of umpires and observers looking on to see what was going on.

"There will be debriefing sessions and a formal report will be written and we will be examining the lessons learned."

The exercise cost about �200,000 to stage and the agency has been given �2.6m from the government to hold 10 similar exercises across the UK.

The Health Protection Agency was established last year to plan a nationwide response to national disasters - both natural and man-made.