Firefighters honed their skills with training for collisions over the festive period.

Witham crews tried out the latest equipment and learnt about advancements in car and airbags designs.

They wanted to be prepared for any collisions as thousands of extra drivers make festive trips.

Witham Firefighter Simon Falzon, works for Ford Dunton in Basildon and organised the training.

He said: “I was able to arrange for crews to come here to learn about the latest advancements in cars and airbags, to test new service equipment and to have a chance to practice on the very latest model cars.

“In the morning there was a lecture from a senior engineer about airbags and the speeds and pressures they operate at.

“Then we had a Fiesta set up with extra airbags including curtain, knee and seat airbags.”