County gets new air ambulance

The new air ambulance serving Staffordshire will take to the air in April.

County Air Ambulance announced that the helicopter will start operating across the county from April 1.

Initially the Staffordshire air ambulance will operate from a temporary base at Tatenhill Airfield, near Burton upon Trent.

The aircraft and crew will begin a 10-hour, seven-day-a-week operation from the base, until a permanent home is built at Hixon Airfield.

County Air Ambulance managers are working closely with the landowner and the local authority to develop the permanent base at the airfield, seven miles from Stafford, as a future home for the air ambulance.

Ian Clayton, the air ambulance operations manager, is keen to get the air operation in the sky as soon as possible.