A CONTROVERSIAL day out which offers people the chance to experience riot training in Worcestershire could be “a serious threat to public order”.

The Riot Training Experience, run by Wish, gives participants a full briefing on modern riot control techniques before simulated riots take place at a secret location in Droitwich.

After being taught police techniques to control crowds, participants don ballistic helmets, batons and shields to go head to head with each other as officers and rioters.

Outraged Droitwich residents have complained to Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff that far from the £79 “all-day interactive epic” the website promises, it could cause public disorder.

The company behind it claimed it was not inciting a riot or encouraging people to break the law and are instead giving an “incredible insight” into what police deal with. A spokeswoman said it was carefully managed by trained professionals and they were highly selective about who takes part.

Mr Luff has written to David Shaw, chief constable of West Mercia, expressing his serious concern and plans to contact the Home Secretary with a view to getting it banned. His letter read: “I am clear that it is not a good idea to teach people how to riot, even if the company’s website contains a strong warning that rioting or inciting riots are against the law, nor is it sensible to teach people to understand police tactics.

“How concerned should I be about these events? Are they just harmless adrenaline days out which are on the extreme side but acceptable or are they, as I believe, a serious threat to public order?.”

A spokeswoman for the company, which also offers zombie boot camps and romantic breaks for three, said it understood why people thought it was controversial. She said: “If we let people skydive, shoot guns or battle the undead why not let them see what life is like behind the thin blue line, too? “We teach the basics of riot management and offer an incredible insight into the situations that police deal with daily.”