Oil spill specialists will trial their latest emergency procedures as part of a national exercise.

They will also test their anti-pollution kit at Dover seafront from Wednesday, November 16, to Friday, November 18.

Exercise White Cliff will be played out close to the port’s tug haven and the slipway.

The experts, from Oil Spill Response Ltd, Adler and Alan, Kent Resilience and the Port, will set up mobile incident facilities on the beach and deploy booms offshore to contain the imaginary slick.

They will also have vessels and equipment simulating oil skimming from the surface of the water while shore teams perfect their beach decontamination skills.

In addition, the team plans to carry out SCAT (Shoreline Clean-up and Assessment Technique) surveys between Folkestone and St Margaret’s, charting the extent of possible contamination from the fictional spill.

Gabriel Gyamfi, from Oil Spill Response, said: “The exercise will give us an opportunity to practise with the very latest equipment and will include elements of planning and shoreline and dockside operations.

“It will test the ability of various organisations to collaborate effectively to a potential major incident.”

Large inflatable Incident Command tents will be mounted, and teams of specialists in full protective clothing will set up decontamination zones as well as temporary storage areas where water will be pumped from the skimming process.

Emma Ward, Port of Dover safety and environment general manage, said: “The lessons learned in the harbour will not only be crucial to protecting the environment of the Port of Dover but also to protecting beaches across the UK.

“We’re proud to host Exercise White Cliff and to take a central role in ensuring that Britain’s crucial maritime industry – responsible for 95 per cent of the nation’s trade in goods – continues to operate efficiently with minimal impact on the environment.”