A NEW helipad at the Royal Lancaster Inf-irmary saw emer-gency action for the first time at the weekend.

The landing site, to be used by the North West Air Ambulance, means a patient can be transferred to accident and emergency within a matter of seconds.

Before, the region's emergency helicopter had to land at Ripley St Thomas School playing fields where casualties were transferred to an ambulance for a drive to hospital.

The air ambulance can now land directly behind the infirmary's centenary building, where the casualty is put onto a trolley and wheeled a few feet down a ramp to accident and emergency.

The helipad was first used on Saturday after the air ambulance was called to the Barbon Hill Climb event, north of Kirkby Lonsdale.

A competitor from Leeds crashed, injuring his head, neck and chest, while riding a classic motorcycle. A medical team was on the scene within minutes and the air ambulance flew him to RLI within eight minutes.

On Monday at around 10am, the helicopter was called to an accident on the southbound M6 near Killington, Cumbria, when a motor cyclist from Wigan was air-lifted to hospital after an accident - in just 10 minutes flying time.

Air ambulance spokesman Paul Crone says: " This helipad is a real life-saver. We can save vital minutes by landing right in the hospital itself.

"It also means that an ambulance doesn't have to be on standby so it's free to attend other 999 calls."