SERIOUS crashes such as the three that have taken place on the M5 over the past week are traumatic for everyone – those directly involved, their family and friends, and any witnesses who had the misfortune to be there when it happened.

Then you have our emergency services, who have the unthinkably tough job of having to attend incident after incident, witnessing things that most would not be able to handle, but still maintaining a level head.

Whether they were first on the scene, conducting the investigation, or clearing away at the end, concerns that our services are at a “financial tipping point”, as highlighted by the PCC and chief constable this week, were cast aside as they went about their gruelling work.

Our men and women from the police, fire and ambulance services showed truly remarkable professionalism in attending and handling the aftermath of the tragedy.

Some might say “they are just doing their job”, but the reality is that they are emotional human beings like everyone else so their ability to cope with such devastation is amazing.