Central government departments and local government swung into action to get people stranded abroad home after Iceland's volcano eruption.With more than 150,000 UK residents trapped abroad at the height of the crisis, Cobra, the Government's emergency planning committee, was activated to co-ordinate the response to the closure of European airspace by the giant ash cloud which resulted. Work was complicated by the official shutdown of departments due to election purdah, which coincided with the unprecedented events.
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