for some horrified onlookers.

And watchers were stunned as firefighters -- battling to free an "injured'' driver from a car -- were told by the man behind the wheel not to scratch the car too much as they set up hydraulic cutters.

The "crash'' -- on Bishop Spencer Road, Pembroke -- involved a car and a push bike.

Onlookers were futher mystifyed by the beaming smile on the face of the cyclist as he lay off the road in some bushes waiting to be treated for his apparently serious injuries.

Even Royal Gazette photographer David Skinner, who stopped at the scene, had shot off several frames before a senior Fire Service officer with a clipboard told him it was just an exercise.

And the newsroom took several calls from members of the public predicting another road fatality.

Fire Service EMS coordinator Arnold Botelho -- who helped set up the fire/Police/ambulance joint exercise -- said: "The purpose is that it's supposed to be realistic.

"We want all three services to practice crowd control, patient care, the whole shebang.'' Photos by David Skinner DOWN AND OUT! -- A pushbike rider waits to be found by fire and ambulance crews after an emergency service exercise which set up a smash involving a car and a bicycle.

Graphic file name: LYING ROLL OVER! -- Firemen work at the scene of a fake crash on Bishop Spencer Road, set up to test the response of the emergency services. But the exercise was too realistic for some onlookers -- who thought they were watching a life-and-death struggle.

Graphic file name: TESTCAR