Britain's ability to cope with an outbreak of bird flu in poultry will be put to the test over the next two days as hundreds of officials take part in a simulation exercise on controlling the disease.

Exercise Hawthorn is based on a scenario in which a deadly strain of the disease has just been discovered on a free-range farm in Norfolk. The scenario also involves two highly suspect cases at a turkey farm in the north of England and a battery farm in south Wales.

It will be coordinated from the headquarters of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in London, with local disease control centres in Bury St Edmunds, Leeds, Cardiff and Gloucester.

The exercise is expected to check that there are adequate contingency plans and will be followed by a report to be published in the summer.

A government briefing on the exercise said it would test the "battle rhythm" set out in Defra's plan for controlling the disease.

It will involve the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Environment Agency, Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence and other government departments.

Veterinary and farming groups are also among the dozens of organisations involved, as well as the gaming, shooting and pigeon racing sectors, plus the RSPCA, the EU and foreign governments.

It will not involve the military or "people in white suits" on the streets, instead testing that systems and lines of communication are working properly.

The simulation, headed by the chief veterinary officer, Debby Reynolds, has been brought forward to April after originally being planned for the summer and follows a number of smaller exercises.

In January, the Conservatives criticised the government's decision not to hold it sooner as "complacent".

The government's briefing on the exercise said it would help demonstrate that it is "taking the threat of avian influenza seriously and that it has effective policies and contingency plans in place".