New Cirencester rescue station to help find missing people

The new rescue station in Cirencester will focus on land searches for high risk and vulnerable missing people

A new rescue station that focuses on land searches for missing people has opened in Gloucestershire.

The base, in Cirencester, is the Severn Area Rescue Association's (SARA) only one inland and set up in the east of the county.

This will "decrease our response times" and "help save lives", SARA's Cotswolds Rescue Station team said.

In 2022 SARA, which specialises in land, water and flood rescues, was called out 95 times.

The charity provides support for emergency crews across the Midlands and the west of England.

Dr John Dutton, Sara's executive land search manager, says the new operation means the team can respond more rapidly to missing person searches in the east of the county. It will also be used as a base to recruit new members.

A fundraising campaign is under way to finance the purchase of new equipment.