Manchester Arena Inquiry hears how how police chief got a taxi from Blackpool to the scene arriving two hours after being called
The inquiry heard the Superintendent could've made his way there under blue lights
A British Transport Police chief superintendent has told the inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing it is a "matter of regret'' that he did not communicate with other emergency services commanders.
Chief Superintendent Allan Gregory was the silver commander for British Transport Police (BTP) following the terrorist attack on May 22 2017.
Mr Gregory, who was based in the control room in Birmingham on the night, accepted he did not speak to silver commanders from the fire service or ambulance service during the incident.
He said: "An absolute point of learning for me is that I didn't do that.
"My sole focus was around Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and the silver commander for that organisation.
"That's a matter of regret that I should have been more diligent about reaching out to the fire service silver and the ambulance service silver and having conversations.''
Mr Gregory said another source of regret' was that he called Superintendent Kyle Gordon and asked him to attend the scene as a bronze commander, knowing that it would take him at least an hour to get from his home in Blackpool to the scene.
He said: "The pressure and the challenge and the sheer weight of what I'd just been briefed on is something that means you are looking to get a team that you know well and that you have confidence in and trust in to get them to the scene to work.''
Mr Gregory said he believed Mr Gordon was the most 'appropriate choice' at the time, after he was unable to get hold of another superintendent, but in hindsight there may have been better choices.
He said he later learned Mr Gordon had taken a taxi to the scene.
When asked whether that was acceptable, Mr Gregory said: "No.''
The inquiry also heard that Mr Gordon could have been 'blue lighted' to the scene and his Blackberry device ran out of power on the way.
The inquiry heard Mr Gordon arrived at the arena some time after 1am, almost two hours after Mr Gregory called him at 11.12pm to ask him to make his way there.
Mr Gregory said he was not made aware that GMP had declared Operation Plato, a pre-planned response to what they believed was a marauding terrorist firearms attack.
He told the inquiry he would have expected to have been informed.
Mr Gregory said: "It was clear there were a large number of BTP resources on the scene and if Plato was declared then it would mean there were consequences for those resources.''
When asked if he had been adequately trained for the incident, he said: "I honestly do not think that I could ever have been adequately prepared for the challenges of that night.
"In terms of the sheer scale of events, the sheer amount of information coming at you in different order and the sheer tragedy, no.''
The inquiry is looking at events before, during and after the suicide bombing by Salman Abedi, 22, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.