MORE lives will be saved in the region after kind-hearted North-East residents raised more than £800,000 to fund a new air ambulance.

Crowds gathered at the Baltic centre, on Gateshead Quays, yesterday, to celebrate the official arrival of a second air ambulance for the region. It follows a massive fundraising campaign by the North East Air Ambulance Service.

Chief executive Graham Pickering, a former paramedic, said: "Thanks to the generosity of the public, we now have a situation where eighty per cent of the population in the North-East is within ten minutes of air ambulance cover.

"The most important aspect of this is that we can take a patient from the scene to a place of definitive care, such as Middlesbrough General Hospital, in a matter of minutes.

"It is that time-saving that is fundamental to saving lives."

Two RAF Sea King helicopters led a fly-by up the River Tyne, before the air ambulances arrived. They were greeted by the sounds of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers' Band and a spectacular pyrotechnics display.

The Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Michael Turnbull, blessed the new helicopter, in the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland.

The first air ambulance was set up in Blyth in 1991 and provides cover for millions of people, from the River Tweed down to the Humber.

The new helicopter will be based at the service's existing centre at Blyth. The original air ambulance will come to Teesside.

It follows a pilot scheme that started in July last year, for an air ambulance at Teesside Airport.

The service rented a helicopter from the police and it proved so popular that bosses launched an appeal to raise enough cash to make it a permanent fixture. It was such a success that the Teeside base will be able to upgrade its operation from five days to seven days a week.

The service relies entirely on donations from the public and needs to find £70,000 a month to run the two choppers - more than £1.5m a year.

Mr Pickering urged residents to keep their donations coming. "It is all due to the generous nature of the public, but we need them to keep it up," he said.