Exmoor rescue volunteers mark group's 30th anniversary

The Exmoor rescue group has four bespoke vehicles

Exmoor's search and rescue volunteers are celebrating the 30 years since their formation.

Beginning life with only a second hand caravan to store equipment in 1992, the group now has four vehicles complete with GPS and thermal imaging drones.

They initially had just 10 call-outs a year and now deal with more than 50 annually, bosses said.

The celebrations have also seen some £30,000 raised for a new water support vehicle.

Staff said the current vehicle would need replacing in a couple of years.

The group has gone from having just a caravan on someone's drive to its own rescue centre

Team chairwoman Caroline Young, who has been involved with the organisation for 22 years, said the difference in equipment between when it started and now was "unrecognisable, but largely for the better".

She said: "We have gone from a from a donated caravan which we used to keep on someone's drive to a bespoke rescue centre in South Molton.

"Even day-to-day hill kit, now the equipment costs about £1,000 per mountain rescue member, so we can do all the things we are expected to do."

The rescue centre in South Molton has been holding a special open day to mark the occasion.

Exmoor national park, reportedly one of Earth's oldest features, dating back 200 million years, stretches across north east Devon and south west Somerset.