Within Cheshire, Halton and Warrington all responding agencies work to Cheshire Police definitions for 'major' and 'serious' incidents, definitions below:

Major incident

• The rescue and transportation of a large number of casualties
• The involvement either directly or indirectly of large numbers of people
• The handling of a large number of enquiries likely to be generated both from the public and the media, usually to the police
• Any incident that requires the large scale combined resources of the emergency services
• The mobilisation and organisation of the emergency services and supporting organisations, e.g. local authority to cater for the threat of death, serious injury or homelessness to a large number of people.

In the event of a major incident being declared, a senior officer of the council will attend the police silver control.       

Serious incident

• Has the potential to develop into a major incident, or
• Involves contamination of the environment, water courses or air pollution, or
• Involves evacuation or potential for evacuation of any members of the public or,
• Involves major road closures, or
• Involves the distribution of health advice to any members of the public.