New home opens for Northamptonshire Search and Rescue team

Northamptonshire Search and Rescue (NSAR) was set up 10 years ago but has never had its own home - until now

A group of volunteers who help find missing people now have a place of their own to call home.

Northamptonshire Search and Rescue (NSAR) was set up 10 years ago but has never had its own base.

The team has described its new headquarters building as "shiny and amazing."

People have been helping to equip the new base after responding to an online wish list asking for things like furniture and tools.

NSAR has about 50 volunteers and five search dogs.

The NSAR team includes five search dogs - Duke, pictured with his handler Emily Cockerill, is a trainee search dog

Members of the team undergo regular training with scenarios such as finding a person with dementia and carrying out a rescue in water.

Last month, NSAR helped the emergency services respond to flooding in various part of the county.

Posting on social media, the team said it had started out 10 years ago "with nothing, we mean nothing, just an idea and vision to help the local community".

The team added it could now celebrate its "biggest project to date" - a "home of our own".

The team is busy setting up its new base.

NSAR spokesperson Neil Balderson said: "This new facility will give us a base to work from, train in the dry, store kit in secure, covered conditions and help the team take its activities to the next level."

He added the project had been supported by Lamport Hall, a stately home in North Northamptonshire.