RESIDENTS had no reason to be alarmed on Tuesday evening if they saw large numbers of firefighters in the Lansdowne area of Bournemouth this evening.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they were holding a joint exercise with one of the university student accommodation providers in the area.

Lansdowne has a raft of high-rise student accommodation blocks, with many different management companies overseeing their day-to-day functioning.

A row of fire engines could be seen parked in one road as part of the exercise.

A Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said on Tuesday: "If you're in the Lansdowne area of Bournemouth tonight, don't panic when you see loads of fire engines, we're doing a joint exercise with one of the student accommodation providers."

Just last week, around 30 firefighters were called to a student accommodation block in the town centre after a blaze broke out in an unoccupied ground-floor flat.

Hinton Road was closed off while emergency services dealt with the incident in St Peter’s Hall.