Members from Halstead Town Council visited volunteers at an air ambulance base.

Town mayor Shirley Diver was joined by councillors Andrew Munday and Sandra Dingle at Essex and Herts Air Ambulance’s base in Earls Colne.

During the visit, the councillors were given a tour of the air base and had the chance to look inside one of the helicopters used by the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service.

The charity is appealing for more members of the public to get involved with their work and is offering tours of the air base to schools and clubs throughout East Anglia.

Mrs Diver echoed calls for people to meet volunteers. She said: “The air ambulance has a vital role in saving lives. They wish that more groups and members of the public would ask about a tour and see just what goes on.

“If anyone is interested in organising a group of people I’m sure they would try very hard to accommodate them.”

Jen Wall, Volunteer and Events Lead at Essex & Herts Air Ambulance added: “We were delighted to welcome members of Halstead Town Council to our Earls Colne Airbase, and we are pleased to hear that they found it interesting and informative.

“Schools and other groups interested in arranging a visit can do so. We can also arrange to visit schools as part of our free Skills for Life initiative which aims to teach youngsters, regardless of their age, about the importance of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and how to carry it out.

“We are always keen recruit new volunteers as well as welcome groups of all ages who want to help support our life-saving work, although for some roles they need to be 18 or over.”

To arrange a visit to the air base call 0345 2417690.

or for more information visit the website at https://ehaat.org/.