Firefighters are using enormous 40-stone mannequins in their training exercises to practise rescuing obese people.

Bariatric dummies are being utilised by crews to replicate the weight of real unconscious people in response to Britain's rising obesity rates.

Produced by North Wales company, Ruth Lee Ltd, the heaviest models are filled with a stone core and steel ball bearings to make them weigh up to 40st.

The move comes as the number of morbidly obese people living in Britain has dramatically increased - a quarter of British adults are now said to be obese.

Fire crews have been pictured training with the figures for the first time with manufacturers claiming recent major search and rescue operations such as the Grenfell Tower tragedy have provided a need for larger models.