A WAR of words has been whipped up by the launch of a major fund-raising campaign by the North West Air Ambulance.

Fund-raisers collecting cash to keep another emergency helicopter based in Cumbria operational are upset that the Blackpool-based NWAA is flying into South Lakeland to appeal for cash.

The row has been sparked by the NWAA's launch this week of a £500,000 appeal for a new state-of-the-art helicopter.

Gulf War hero John Nichol was due to land in Kendal on Monday to help with the fund-raising drive but the EC 135 helicopter that the NWAA plans to buy was grounded in Blackpool due to a mechanical fault.

The NWAA has been flying from Crewe to Carlisle since 1999 and completed 25 rescues in August.

The Great North Air Ambulance (GNAA), based in Appleby, flew its first mission last month and claims to be the dedicated air ambulance for Cumbria. Both air ambulances assist victims of car crashes, falls on the fells, heart attacks, and industrial and farming accidents.

And each charity competes in South Lakeland for donations from the public to cover the tens of thousands of pounds they need each month.

GNAA fund-raiser David Hawkins, a former ambulance service officer from Penrith, is against the NWAA coming into South Lakeland to raise funds and felt donors in South Lakeland could be giving to one charity, thinking their pounds were going to the other. "We don't go across there (Lancashire) trying to raise funds for Cumbria," he said.

Mr Hawkins also believes that it is "safer" to support a helicopter based in Cumbria and pointed out that the GNAA helicopter could get to an accident faster than the NWAA helicopter, reaching Ulverston in 16 minutes rather than 17 and flying to Kendal in 12 as opposed to 17.

But Paul Crone, of the NWAA, said: "We operate in Cumbria. We save people's lives in Cumbria. Therefore, it's only fair we are able to ask the people of Cumbria to donate.

"I would never dream of telling another charity how or where they should raise funds. What people should show is some respect."

He said the NWAA did not have to justify coming to South Lakeland but added: "They (the GNAA) think we are flying around the skies of Cumbria waiting for someone to have a heart attack." The GNAA's Cumbrian helicopter, Pride of Cumbria, is on duty five days a week whereas Mr Crone points out that the NWAA is operational seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Mr Crone said discussing response times was irrelevant because the GNAA only offered emergency response five days out of seven. The GNAA has two other helicopters, one at Blyth, in Northumberland, and one on Teeside, on seven-day duty, covering the two days the Cumbria helicopter is not on standby.

But Mr Crone pointed out: "I don't see how they can cover emergencies in Cumbria from Blyth."

Mike Devereux, at Cumbria Ambulance Service HQ, said: "We don't have any preference. We will simply send the nearest available helicopter."

Neither group could say if there would be enough money to cover them both in the future but Paula Harrison, GNAA's fund-raising manager, said: "If you want people to give to something, you have to offer them a dedicated service."

To donate to the GNAA, call 01539-730999. To donate to the NWAA, call 0800-587-4570.