Student journalists who have been a thorn in the side of the police, the fire service and the local authorities in Cumbria have been thanked for their probing questions.

Twenty second-year undergraduates on the BA (Hons) Journalism course at Cumbria Institute of the Arts relished their opportunity to grill senior officials in Exercise Excalibur – an emergency exercise based around an explosion at a munitions depot.

Cumbria Constabulary press officer Mike Head invited the students to act as a challenging and realistic media pack at a simulated press conference.

He said: “It is important when we test our emergency plans through exercises that organisations who are responding take seriously the need to warn the public.

“The students who came to Exercise Excalibur added a touch of realism and those who were thrown on their mercies were grateful for the experience. It also provided positive feedback which can be used to adjust the plans in future. Thanks for being such a useful nuisance.”

Course leader Jackie Errigo was delighted with the determination of the students.

“They were polite but persistent in their questioning. They were determined to get the full story and the quotes they needed,” she said.

“It was a very useful exercise for the students and will stand them in good stead when they experience the real thing.”

It turned out to be a great story. Six workers were believed dead after a massive explosion at the Ministry of Defence’s Longtown depot. There was a huge crater on site and live mortars hurled into a residential area by the force of the blast. The bomb squad was called in from Catterick to try and defuse a missile which had landed in a town centre filling station.

The students took some persuading that there was no depleted uranium tank shells stored on site.

The exercise is the latest in a series of practical events on the course.

Five students recently formed the news team for an eight-page student special in Carlisle – a city with a growing student population.

The full-colour Carlisle Student newspaper containing articles on night-life, sports, and jobs was published by Cumbrian Newspapers’ News & Star.

Deputy editor Nick Turner said: “It would have been madness for our staff to try and write for local students about their nightlife when we have so many talented people on the journalism course at the Cumbria Institute of the Arts.

“Linking up with them gave our Carlisle Student publication the kind of street-cred we would have embarrassed ourselves trying to reproduce in-house.

“Next year we will be handing over our weekend features supplement to the students for one week as a way of showcasing their talent and getting a different perspective on Cumbria from our expanding student population.”

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