THOUSANDS of people turned out to meet the women and men keeping the county safe during a family-friendly event today.

Despite unseasonal downpours, the Emergency Services Family Fun Day at Kings Park in Bournemouth was declared a huge hit.

Visitors had the opportunity to see Dorset Police's highly-trained dogs at work, learn about fire safety from firefighters as a 'living room' unit was set ablaze during a demonstration, and meet paramedics who work aboard the air ambulance.

Members of the public were also encouraged to climb into real emergency vehicles and handle real and fake firearms to see if they could tell the difference.

Chief Fire Officer Ben Ansell, who is usually based at Salisbury, said: "It's going really well.

"It's a way of getting the community involved and showing them how we work. It's not just about those from blue light services, like fire, ambulance, police and the coastguard - we've got the RNLI here, the Red Cross, Wessex 4x4 Response, the National Trust and lots of other organisations too.

"It's a multi-agency event."

Throughout the day, there were long queues of children keen to meet Dorset's new crime-fighting tractor, Robo Crop.

PCSO Tom Balchin and PC Claire Dinsdale, who work from Dorchester but target rural crime throughout the county, said the vehicle had been popular with visitors.

PC Dinsdale said: "People have been queueing up to go in it all day, even in the heavy rain."

The team handed out 'I met Robo Crop' stickers and air fresheners branded with the words, 'I have no valuables in my vehicle'.

"The message for members of the public today is, report, report, report," said PC Dinsdale.

"If you're a victim of crime, however small, let us know.

"If someone has cropped your padlock, for example, that's criminal damage.

"We need to know about it."

One of the youngsters visiting members of Dorset Police's firearms team was an eight-year-old boy whose game sparked a false alarm earlier this month.

As reported in the Daily Echo, armed officers and the police helicopter were scrambled in response to two young boys playing with a toy gun in Purbeck Road.

Officers were called to reports of a 'sighting of two males possibly in possession of firearms'.

However, when the team arrived and realised the youngsters had been playing a game, they spent time chatting with the boys and their families.

Sergeant Gareth Bishop, a specialist firearms officer based at Ferndown, said members of the public should keep fake firearms at home.

"Officers have seconds to decide if a firearm is real or fake," he said, showing a range of realistic toy guns alongside their genuine - unloaded - counterparts.

"If members of the public have to have a fake firearm, we would always advise them to leave it at home and never use it in public," he said.

Sgt Bishop said the family fun day had provided officers with the opportunity to meet the public.

"There's a bit of a myth around firearm officers that we're scary, and we can look that way," he said.

"But just because we're armed doesn't mean we're not approachable.

"We're always happy for people to come and talk to us."