A Southampton-based automotive recycling company provided 110 salvage vehicles for a firefighter competition.

Silverlake Automotive Recycling supported Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) for the United Kingdom Rescue Organisation (UKRO) 'Festival of Rescue' on September 27-28.

The event is the UK's biggest and most prestigious rescue competition.

Firefighters from 28 UK fire services and three international teams gathered in Portsmouth and Eastleigh to test their rescue skills across various challenging scenarios.

Silverlake's salvage vehicles were used in the Extrication Challenge, held at Gunwharf Quays.

Teams competed to safely and efficiently remove actors, who played casualties with various injuries, from the vehicles representing simulated road traffic collisions.

The public was invited to watch the challenge and support the teams over the two days.

The winning team was South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Bridgend.

Members of the public could watch the challenges taking place (Image: Supplied) Craig Gregory, group manager at HIWFRS, said: "It is important that fire services train to respond to road traffic collisions and work with partners to reduce deaths on our roads.

"The Extrication Challenge puts firefighters’ skills to the test by tackling different road traffic collision scenarios.

"It is designed to improve the knowledge, skills and understanding of services, enabling them to deliver an improved response to RTCs and improved outcomes for casualties.

"We would like to thank Silverlake for supporting this year’s UKRO event and providing vehicles for the extrication teams to test their skills on at this event."

Silverlake has been supporting HIWFRS for over a decade, supplying salvage vehicles and the use of their 10-acre site in Shedfield for training exercises and assessments.

The winning team was South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Bridgend (Image: Supplied) Allen Prebble, managing director at Silverlake Automotive Recycling, said: "When they told us they were hosting the 2024 UKRO Festival of Rescue in Portsmouth, we were 100 per cent ready to help.

"We were really proud to be sponsors of the Extrication Challenge in Gunwharf Quays, to provide the vehicles and manage the logistics around their delivery and removal.

"The ‘Festival of Rescue’ is a fantastic opportunity for all the teams taking part in the competition to showcase the vital lifesaving work that they do and share best practice.

"This event represents a learning and development opportunity that helps firefighting professionals to keep our communities safe."

Other challenges at the ‘Festival of Rescue’ included rope rescue from height, water rescue, and trauma care at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.