New Tavistock landing site for air ambulance

The Devon Air Ambulance has 187 operational night landing sites it can access

A new landing site has been made available for Devon's air ambulance service, using a town's football field, its operator has said.

The site, at Tavistock Football Club, would also allow the service's Exeter-based night-flying helicopter to "piggy-back" off the field's floodlights to operate after dark, it added.

The move is down to a new partnership between the charity, the Langsford Park-based football club and Tavistock Town Council.

Aircraft crews would be able to switch on the lights remotely which means clinical teams can reach patients more quickly and safely than landing in a dark field, the charity said.

Toby Russell, the Devon Air Ambulance Trust’s community landing sites development officer, said: “The ability to ‘piggy-back’ on the football club’s lighting offers a cost-effective solution to establish a night landing site in the town.”

There are now 187 operational night landing sites for the charity, which is celebrating 30 years of service since flying its first mission in 1992.

The Tavistock ground is the second announcement of a new night-time site this month after it said a site at Steps Cross Park in Watcombe, Torquay, had become operational.

The charity said it had its "busiest year ever" in 2021, with its aircraft and critical care cars attending more than 1,900 incidents in the county.