A NORTH-EAST motorcycle group has donated £600 towards lifesaving equipment for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

The Boundary Motorcycle Group, which organises regular charity ride-outs, has raised over £450,000 for local causes since 2006 and its latest donation has helped pay for a portable defibrillator for the GNAAS crew.

All GNAAS aircrafts already carry advanced-care defibrillators but these are heavy and difficult to carry.

The portable defibrillators will be helpful when aircrafts can’t land close enough to the patients and the crew have to travel extra distances.

Mike Bateman, crew paramedic with GNAAS, said: “The portable version doesn’t have the same amount of features, but it is still able to perform a life-saving function.”

He added: “We would like to thank all at the Boundary Motorcycle Group once more for all their work for the charity.”

Brian Laverick of the Boundary Motorcycle Group said: “Our members remain as committed to this cause as ever before, so we are delighted to be able to help out in this way.”