LARGS Community Resilience team were involved in an emergency training exercise on the seafront on Tuesday.

The unit, headed by former chief police superintendent George Douglas, was set up four years ago.

It now has 50 members and is going from strength to strength as a recognised service.

George, 72, said: "We have progressed enormously since setting up in 2014, from liaising with emergency services to getting involved in exercises.

"We have now got 50 members and we meet once a month for training.

"The first training exercise going into the autumn period was on Tuesday.

"We started off in Clark Memorial Church and responded to an 'emergency incident' in the town centre to see what lessons we can take from it."

The group received an award from Police Scotland earlier this year for its commitment to the Viking Festival and response to the severe snow in March, when team members fought their way through 10-15ft snow drifts to provide medicines or GP assistance.

George said: "We are currently using two storage areas in Largs which is not ideal and we are going to take over a van box trailer which will be a communications area, which means we will have everything we need on site.

"We have had tremendous support from North Ayrshire Council, SSE, Kelburn Wind Farm and the Scottish Government and many others in terms of getting grants for important equipment."

The Community Resilience Team will be holding more public events so local people can see for themselves the work they do.

The town already relies on a host of volunteer and part-time emergency services but the idea of having a trained group drawn from the wider community, who could be called upon in times of need, proved popular.

The voluntary team have been trained by all three of the main emergency services and now have a good understanding of command and control at incidents and what would be expected of them.

They have also undertaken training in basic skills such as map reading and first aid.

Just about anything is expected from a volunteer, from helping to open a rest centre and make cups of tea right through to helping search for a missing person.

George added: "We meet one evening a month with a set training plan, which helps to keep the group working as a team and we have outdoor exercises planned for the summer months.

"Taking advice from the local authority and emergency services as to what kit we should buy, the group has invested in equipment to allow us to operate professionally and this includes hi-vis jackets, radios, first aid kits, hard hats and torches.

"We hope that nothing serious will ever happen within our community but being realistic and looking back over the years, we know that one day it will. It is essential that communities are able to help look after themselves and even be able to manage a crisis while help is on the way and that what our team is all about."