The ladder appliance was used to search each room at the front of the building for "casualties"

See our photos of the major Hampshire Fire and Rescue service exercise which took place at the Theatre Royal in Guildhall Walk last night.

The exercise, which quickly drew a crowd of spectators, took place on Monday evening in the city's Guildhall Walk area at a busy time of day designed to provide realistic training conditions for the firefighters.

The Guildhall Walk area is known to be one of the busiest night-time entertainment areas in the city, and the Theatre Royal has a long history as an entertainment venue, with the current building dating back to the 19th Century.

The first Theatre Royal was built in 1856, and the current building was built in 1884.

News editor Jacob Leverett and photographer Tom Worman both chatted with and took photos of the fire crews, who explained how a part of their exercise was to locate several "casualties" - played by members of staff and architecture students from the university - in the theatre.

The exercise also simulated being in a dark, smoky environment, with crews wearing blacked-out goggles and respirators, having to use their sense of touch and radios to coordinate the search.

See photos of the exercise (by Alex Harries)