A RESCUE helicopter based at Appleby will be grounded for a few weeks while more money is raised to support it.

Pippa Holt, of the Great North Air Ambulance, which is a charity, said donations to the Tsunami disaster and the flooding in Carlisle had taken so much cash away from the helicopter it had to be grounded.

She said the charity needed an extra £20,000 a month to keep the green and white helicopter in the air.

However, a North West Air Ambulance spokeswoman said the other, Blackpool-based, rescue helicopter would continue to respond to emergency missions when requested by Cumbria Ambulance Service.

To donate to the GNAA call 01325 487263.