WORK began yesterday on an SOS base that could be the forerunner for others in remote areas of the UK.

The first turf was cut at a £250,000 24-hour ambulance station at Bainbridge in Wensleydale which will have bays for three vehicles, modern facilities for paramedics and room for a police car. There will be a separate wing for community workers, the Dales and Farm Watch networks and the Swaledale Fell Rescue team.

Jayne Barnes, chief executive of the Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said:"I think it's a particularly exciting project, in that there will be facilities for a whole range of rural community groups and organisations, including a training room for our growing army of community first-responders.

"It's better placed strategically, which should help shave vital seconds off our response times. Furthermore, it will be a much more comfortable base for our staff.

"They have waited so long and are delighted to see the JCBs here; it will mean a lot to them and to the people of the Dales to have this brand-new building.''

In return for garage space for a police car at the base, the ambulance service has been offered secure parking for stand-by vehicles in Leyburn; until now, crews have had to park on the town's market place.

The community resource wing of the new building - built with £40,000 donated by Yorkshire Forward, North Yorkshire County and Richmondshire District Council and the Hambleton and Richmondshire Primary Care Trust - has its own entrance, meeting room and office space.

The parish forum clerk, who serves seven parishes in the area, community fire wardens and an outreach worker from the Upper Wensleydale Community Partnership will also be among those with access to the facilities.