THE county’s life-saving air ambulance service has officially reopened its airbase following renovation work.

The Essex and Herts Air Ambulance has unveiled its new-look airbase, which is located on Earls Colne Business Park.

Dignitaries attended an official reopening event to cut the ribbon at the revamped base.

VIP visitors included air ambulance chief executive officer Jane Gurney, Essex High Sheriff Simon Brice and Colchester MP Will Quince.

The base has been given a number of upgrades, including an extension of its hangar.

It comes after the charity opened a second airbase at North Weald, in Hertfordshire, in April.

The Earls Colne base will remain the charity’s headquarters.

Operations director Cliff Gale said: “We are very pleased to officially mark the opening of our newly refurbished and extended airbase here at Earls Colne.

“The service has been based on the airfield since 2011 and, with the help of our remarkable supporters, we have been able to update and extend our hangar to create a first-class facility that will enable us to continue to provide an exceptional clinical service for those in need across the region well into the future.

“Thank you to everyone who worked hard to bring this project to fruition.”

The charity provides a life-saving emergency medical treatment at the scene of incidents before airlifting patients to hospital.

It relies on the generosity of supporters in Essex and Hertfordshire to remain airborne.

It costs £750,000 a month to operate the air ambulance service, with each mission costing £2,200 on average.