EXTRA staff have arrived at North Yorkshire's most remote ambulance station, with 24-hour cover now assured across the Northern Dales.

Until now the Wensleydale crews locked up and left the base at Bainbridge at the end of the day shift, responding to out-of-hours emergencies from their homes.

Staffing levels at the station have now been doubled, with eight paramedics now ready to respond - enough to ensure the ambulance station will be fully staffed, 24 hours a day. Trevor Molton, the chief executive of the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: "The former stand-by arrangement impacted on both patient care and on the personal lives or our staff."

The improved service is largely thanks to a £120,000 investment from the Hambleton and Richmondshire Primary Care Trust.

North Yorkshire County Council's Richmondshire ward councillor Yvonne Peacock said: "It is great to see something my father started as a voluntary service in Bainbridge more than 50 years ago develop over the decades and here we are today with a team of ambulance men and women dedicated to providing 24-hour emergency cover.''

It is hoped the Bainbridge ambulance crews will move into the former Preston's Garage with the Swaledale Fell Rescue team, voluntary fire wardens and the Dales Watch and Farm Watch organisations.