Thousands of people attended the first Blue Light Day event to be held at Cornwall’s Air Ambulance headquarters yesterday - but many had to be turned away as the venue struggled to cope with numbers.
Blue Light Day showcases the work of all the emergency services in the county. Visitors had the opportunity to test their CPR skills, watch firefighters in action as they rescued two patients trapped in a car, and get a close look at the specialist equipment used by police, coastguard and Blood Bike volunteers as they carry out their work in Cornwall.
But some families went home disappointed after being turned away at the doors, and the event closed early due to health and safety concerns.
Paula Martin, chief executive of Cornwall Air Ambulance, said: ‘We were overwhelmed by the number of people who came to the open day, it was incredibly well supported and shows just how much people love finding out about the work our wonderful emergency services do.
‘We apologise to those families turned away from the event; the attendance was unprecedented and unfortunately, at times, threatened to exceed the numbers of people we can safely accommodate on site. The charity will be looking into the possibility of holding another similar event, at a bigger venue, in the future.’