THE Territorial Army stepped in to solve a transport headache for disabled young people sending to buses to Russia.
Red tape threatened to ruin a massive effort by clients from Spennymoor Day Centre who mounted a fundraising effort to provide mobility for penpals in County Durham's twin region, Kostroma.
After raising £4,000 to renovate two former Durham County Council buses and send them to Kostroma, in the former Soviet Republic, they found it difficult to get insurance to have them driven to Hull for shipment.
Volunteers from the 102 REME Battalion, at Newton Aycliffe, came to the rescue at the weekend, when they supplied two low-loaders to carry the buses to the docks.
From there they are being shipped to Lithuania where they will be met by two official drivers from Kostroma.
Three people from the day centre, care worker Karen Anderson, John Hind, a driver, and client Carol Burnside are flying to Kostroma on August 2 when the buses should have completed their journey
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