complex motorway and railway networks a significant number of large-scale social and sporting events and locations The surrounding regions of South Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire would be involved in receiving evacuees. The plan was replaced in 2009 by a less rigid set of arrangements to evacuate instead parts of London rather than the whole of London. OP Sassoon has therefore been consigned to history. What is known about Operation Sassoon It lists Canary Wharf, Heathrow, Westminster, Whitehall and the City as possible targets. Public transport loading points (known as HUBS) have been pre-determined; people will be expected to walk to these locations, from where they will then be transported to unloading points (known as HEADS). Special road routes, known as High Capacity Emergency Access Routes (HCEARS) have been designated for people who self evacuate in their own private vehicles, and to allow for the expedient access of emergency services vehicles arriving from outside London. There is a specific traffic plan to deal with the use of the M25 and the radial feeding motorways. It will have a reliance on police resources as blocking vehicles. Railway stations have been identified within London, which are suitable for the embarkation of evacuees (Rail Hubs). Typically, these stations are the existing Central London termini, with suitable fall-backs also identified. In the event of a large-scale evacuation being invoked, the normal advertised timetable will be suspended and replaced by an evacuation service designed to provide a safe and simple means of transporting the maximum possible number of evacuees away from the affected area in the shortest possible time. An air exclusion zone will be introduced over the affected areas. Local Authorities and the voluntary sector will provide for evacuees. Initial reception will provide basic accommodation, drinking water and toilet facilities for up to 48 hours after the incident. Controversies over Operation Sassoon On 21 September 2004, an internal Metropolitan Police inquiry was launched after detailed plans for the mass evacuation of London were found on the seat of a train in a Tesco carrier bag. The plans, discovered on one of four CD-ROMs which were in the carrier bag, were found by a warehouse worker from Essex who had been travelling on a commuter train between London and Gravesend, Kent. According to The Sun newspaper, the dossier was headed Operation Sassoon – Metropolitan Police Traffic Plan for the Mass Evacuation of London and dated 3