A bomb drill has been held by emergency workers at a Jewish school in Antwerp.

The mock-emergency procedure involved gunshots from two people acting as terrorists, a car bomb explosion, children covered in fake blood, together with stretchers and ambulances lined up outside the city centre building.

Around 60 people, including children from the local Yesodei Hatorah elementary school, participated in the event, organised at the initiative of the Antwerp Jewish community.

The drill was supported by Magen David Adom, the local Jewish ambulance service, Hatzolah, the local security service, Shmira, and the terrorist response organisation, Zaka, which sent experts from Israel to take part in the role-play.

The exercise was designed to prepare people and rescue organisations in the city from a potential attack, though organisers said there was no specific threat.

Mark Gardner, from the Community Security Trust, said that the CST already organised safety awareness programmes in the UK, although not on the same scale as Antwerp . He said: “Our streetwise course is not about racism, antisemitism or terrorism. It’s about being safe on the street.”