Wiltshire Air Ambulance missions in 2019 up 12 per cent on previous year

Wiltshire's Air Ambulance undertook 1,233 missions in 2019 - an increase of 12% on the previous year.

The charity said it's the most number of missions carried out in a year since 2015, when the charity became a stand-alone air ambulance.

It has also revealed that the largest number of call-outs last year were to cardiac emergencies (384), while 239 were to road accidents.

The largest number of incidents attended were in the Swindon area - 224.

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Most of the 1,233 alerts to Wiltshire Air Ambulance were responded to by Rapid Response Vehicles.

Early last year the charity's helicopter was grounded after the firm that operated it went into administration.

After being forced to ground its helicopter, the charity hired a back-up one before securing its own Air Operator Certificate.

The Bell 429 was then able to resume flying in November 2019.

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This year, Wiltshire Air Ambulance is celebrating its 30th year of operation.

Its Chief Executive has thanked members of the public for their continued generosity, stressing that the charity relies on donations to provide its "essential service".