A botched terror training exercise which foreshadowed delays in getting firefighters to the Manchester Arena bombing was a 'disaster', the public inquiry into the atrocity has been told.
The emergency services took part in a huge terrorism training exercise, in which a suicide bomber scenario was played out at the Trafford Centre in May, 2016, a year before the real attack at the Arena.
But Greater Manchester Police failed to alert fellow blue light colleagues about the fictional marauding terror strike as planned.
It meant firefighters and paramedics arrived at the shopping city 90 minutes late, the independent inquiry into Arena attack was told.
In May 2017 when Salman Abedi detonated his device at Manchester Arena, the Force Duty Officer (FDO) at Greater Manchester Police declared Operation Plato, instigated when there are fears of an on-going marauding terror attack, but he didn't tell the fire or ambulance services.
It took firefighters two hours to get to the scene. Only one paramedic was at the scene in the 40 minutes after the explosion.
Some 22 people died and hundreds of others were seriously hurt.
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) has apologised for the delay, but blamed 'silence' from GMP for its decision to keep firefighters away over fears there was an on-going marauding terror strike.
As the independent inquiry into the atrocity continued today (Tuesday), a senior firefighter, Michael Lawlor, described his concern at how the Trafford Centre draining drill, dubbed Winchester Accord, had unfolded a year before the Arena attack.
He admitted the exercise 'did not run smoothly', pointing to an absence of communication from both force duty officer and tactical firearms commander of GMP to any other agencies as had been planned.
Mr Lawlor said there was no call to say the 'attack' was in progress and nor that Operation Plato had been declared.
As a result of 'not being informed' the fire and ambulance 'players' waiting in vain for the GMP call decided to 'run with it' and attended the pre-arranged 'forward control point' where the commanders of the three main emergency services were supposed to make joint decisions about their next moves, according Mr Lawlor.
Firefighters and paramedics were 90 minutes late and no one from GMP was there to meet them, said the witness.
The chairman of the inquiry, Sir John Saunders, asked the witness about the delay and said: "It was a bit of a disaster. You arrived an hour and a half late, so that’s quite a disaster."
"It didn't unfold as we expected," said Mr Lawler, who said he later raised his concerns with GMP bosses.
The inquiry also heard that the 'debrief' where the emergency services discussed the failures of the Winchester Accord exercise did not take place until May 23 of that year.
Sir John highlighted the six-week delay 'at a time when the terrorist threat was severe' and Mr Lawlor replied: "That was the reality."
Police were forced to apologised shortly after the Trafford Centre drill because the fake suicide bomber had shouted 'Allahu Akbar' during a simulated terrorist attack.
Mr Lawlor, as the lead National Interagency Liaison Officer (NILO) at the fire service, played a key role in delivering training to firefighters and also coordinating efforts with other emergency services during major incident like terror attacks, the inquiry was told.
Another 'marauding terror attack' training drill, a tabletop exercise dubbed Hawk River, which took place in March 2017 also uncovered communications problems, the inquiry was told.
Mr Lawlor revealed that GMP's force duty officer had acknowledged they would not provide a 'running commentary' for the other emergency services as they would be too busy.
But the witness said he had been assured the 'minimum expectation' was to inform the other emergency services when Operation Plato had been instigated.
