The public should be told how to prepare for war, says Hampshire County Council's emergency planner, Ian Hoult.

He has hit out at the Government's reluctance to release information about dealing with chemical, biological or nuclear attacks, saying: "The problem is it consistently confuses security with secrecy."

Mr Hoult also revealed that county council staff were involved in a staged "catastrophe" a few weeks ago, in which they tested their response should terrorists attack Hampshire.

He said the emergency planning team was "doing little else" other than preparing for war, but said he was not allowed to talk too much about the exact plans.

"Since July last year we have been working with colleagues with the military and the MoD planning arrangements for military conflict," he said.

Mr Hoult was critical of the Government policy that restricted what he could say.

"I don't think there's a risk of hysteria in giving out information," he said. "The public should know more than they're being told now. There needs to be a public information programme."

He said while various government websites carried sketchy information, these were not widely publicised.

However, he thought it would be unwise to send out hundreds of thousands of warning leaflets.

"We now have things like the internet and better media links we can be more proactive, there's a lot more that can be done."

He said special provisions were being deployed to cities with populations of over 250,000, such as Southampton or Portsmouth, to use should war break out.

But Winchester, despite being a tourist city attracting thousands of visitors a year, was not in line for extra safety precautions.

"Winchester will absolutely not receive extra resources in terms of emergency planning. We're not high-risk and we're not potential targets, compared with other areas of Hampshire," he said.

Earlier this week, Home Secretary David Blunkett, said he was looking at ways of providing the public with "sensible, tailored advice".

A website has been launched offering advice and information about terrorism: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/terrorism

Meanwhile Winchester businesses are being urged to double check their precautions in the event of war.

A warning that small companies could suffer badly if IT systems crashed for more than a day, prompted Barbara Bryant, chief executive of North Hants Chamber of Commerce, to urge them to double check their arrangements to maintain their business.

Winchester Royal Hampshire County Hospital is also prepared to receive extra patients, who may be transferred from nearby hospitals to make room for war casualties, a spokesman said this week.