Mansell and Tindall deliver £7m air ambulance

Racing legend Nigel Mansell CBE, and former England rugby captain Mike Tindall MBE handed the helicopter over to the Midlands Air Ambulance.

Mike and Nigel, who are both ambassadors for the charity, climbed aboard the state-of-the-art air ambulance to officially launch the delivery to its new home at RAF Cosford.

The money to buy the new helicopter came from donations off the public and a £1 million grant from the department of culture, media and sports.

The New H145 upgraded air ambulance helicopter is now part of the Midlands Air Ambulance's fleet and is registered with the call sign 'G-RMAA'.

The Airbus helicopter will be operationally in service on February 26, from the charity's RAF Cosford base.

The new helicopter will undertake an average of three air ambulance missions everyday and will provide a number of benefits to patient care within the region.

The larger interior means additional aircrew can be flown to major incident scenes and more medical equipment can be carried on board to treat more complex emergencies.

Mr Mansell said: "I am delighted to have been asked – along with Mike – to help deliver and hand over this incredible state-of-the-art lifesaving helicopter to the Midlands Air Ambulance charity, which will continue to help save thousands of lives.

"It is important to also help continue to raise awareness of the lifesaving work of the charity, which has such a close connection to Formula One and motorsport and to every one of us who drives on Britain's busiest roads and motorway networks each day.

"We only ever appreciate the real value of the air ambulance when we may be unfortunate to either be in a road traffic accident or indeed to witness one. The speed of the air ambulances are critical in these circumstances."

Mr Tindall added: "It is a huge honour and a privilege to be here with Nigel and getting the chance to see first hand how the new helicopter will help save thousands of lives as we are both passionate supporters of the work of the Midlands Air Ambulance charity, which is so closely connected to the worlds of horse racing, equestrianism, rugby and motorsport.

"The purchase of this new helicopter has been made with thanks to donations from the public, which is a staggering achievement.

"The new helicopter will allow the crews to travel further, faster and provide even more lifesaving trauma equipment. It will also allow the charity to continue its amazing lifesaving work for many more years to come."

Since its inception in 1991 The Midlands Air Ambulance has undertaken more than 49,000 missions.

The charity covers a population in excess of six million people across the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and the West Midlands.