THE North-East is in line for a second air ambulance - but campaigners need to raise more than £1m if the life-saver is to be based here permanently.

On July 8, the Great North Air Ambulance (GNAA) charity will launch a month-long trial that will see a new medical helicopter based at Teesside Airport at a cost of £70,000.

GNAA hopes it will prove so valuable to the community that people will dig deep into their pockets in order to raise enough money to keep the air ambulance at Teesside permanently.

The charity, which is based in Darlington, already has one helicopter, a Twin Squirrel, in Blyth, Northumberland.

Fundraisers believe a second will help save thousands more lives and boost accident response times, getting victims to hospital within minutes.

Grahame Pickering, a former air ambulance paramedic and now chief executive of the GNAA, said: "I would dearly love for local people and businesses to grasp this as their own so that we can look to keep the helicopter at Teesside indefinitely.

"This service belongs to all of us and is something which could touch on any of our lives at any time. We don't want to lose it - it really is invaluable."

The air ambulance plays a vital part in helping mountain rescue, the coastguard and other emergency services rescue the injured, particularly those in rural areas.

Mr Pickering said: "People may think 'why do I need an air ambulance if I live in a town?' But you don't always stay in town.

"The air ambulance has helped save lives on rugby pitches and on golf courses - it can squeeze in just about anywhere."

The helicopters each cost £1m a year to run and, as the Blyth helicopter is 20 years old, it will have to be replaced within the next couple of years, at a cost of £2.2m.

It has gone on 4,000 missions across the region since it started in 1994 and has rescued more than 3,500 people.

Mr Pickering said two of the region's major trauma centres, the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough and the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, were looking at fitting helipads.

The two paramedics on board are funded by the NHS but the charity is completely independent and receives no Government funding.

Businesses such as the AA and Barbour have acted as corporate sponsors for the Blyth helicopter to date, but that arrangement has now ended.

New funds need to be found to meet the running costs of both the Blyth and Teesside helicopters, and eventually the charity hopes to have another air ambulance for Cumbria.

* Tomorrow: How you can get involved.