FATHER Christmas recently made a surprise visit to Newton Abbot ahead of the big day to join the town’s fire crew for their confined spaces training.

Traversing the chimneys of the world is thwart with risk, so it is perhaps not surprising when Father Christmas came to town on Monday, December 8.

Crew from Newton Abbot Fire Station warmly welcomed the Christmas gift-bringer as they brushed up on their procedures for dealing with confined spaces.

The crew simulated confined areas using tight tunnels and wore breathing apparatus as lack of oxygen and presence of dangerous gases are common in such scenarios.

To finish the drill, the station’s crew manager posed as an injured crew member who needed to be evacuated through the confined space; he was placed on a stretcher and repositioned his breathing apparatus so as to ‘package’ him as tight as possible.

And while it was a tight squeeze, two members of the crew were able to transport him through the tunnel to an area of safety for medical attention.

A spokesperson for Newton Abbot Fire Station said: ‘The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that we weren't actually under air and wearing masks during this drill.

‘This was a conscious decision as we didn't want to use our air supply during training in case we received a real emergency call.

‘This turned out to be a wise decision because as we were packing away the equipment, one crew was mobilised to a small fire in the local area.

‘We would like to thank Santa for popping in for his annual training session.

‘We hope you're beard isn't too black and that soot isn't in your sack following your visit and we wish you all the best ahead of what will surely be a busy night shift for you.’