Fund raising event runs into difficulty

The ambulance service receives no government funding

A major fund-raising event for the Northamptonshire and Warwickshire air ambulance has run into difficulty following a fire at a postal sorting office.

Hundreds of postal entries for a charity run in Northampton at the weekend are feared lost because of a fire at the Barrack Road Royal Mail sorting office on Sunday 7 September.

Now organisers of the event on Sunday say that people can just turn up at Billing Aquadrome, pay and collect a running number.

Paul Forster of Sloane Helicopters, which is operating the Diana Princess of Wales National Air Ambulance said the service needed the public's help.

He said: "We pick everything up from your half-hour old baby to your 100-year-old grandparents.

"You never know who's going to need it or when you're going to need it."

The air ambulance service relies solely on public donations and corporate sponsorship and costs £1m a year to operate.

The Augusta A109 E Power helicopter is the fastest in its class with a cruising speed of 180mph.

Based at Coventry airport, it can reach anywhere in Warwickshire within eight minutes and anywhere in Northamptonshire within 12 minutes.