AN earthquake training exercise led by Hertfordshire firefighters is being deployed in New Zealand, following the disaster in Christchurch that has so far killed 98 people.

Firefighters from across the UK are currently assisting in the international search and rescue efforts following the earthquake that struck the country on Tuesday.

Several members of the 63-strong team were part of last year’s earthquake disaster training Exercise Orion – led by Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The exercise attracted criticism from some areas of the media, which questioned the need for UK firefighters to take part in an expensive training exercise for an event which is unlikely to happen in this country.

But today a spokeswoman for Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue said the exercise “will have helped enormously with the realistic preparations that are so vital when dealing such large scale incidents.”