A NEW mountain rescue centre is opening tomorrow – in Durham City.

Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team [TWSMRT] is opening a new base at the fire station on Lanchester Road, Sniperley Park.

The voluntary organisation was founded in 1968 to carry out search and rescue operations in the North Pennines but now works across the whole of County Durham and needs a base to make it easier to get to incidents in the north and east of the county.

Its vehicles and equipment will be split between the centre in Durham and one at a new “quad” centre in Barnard Castle, which is due to be finished this year and will also be a base for police, ambulance and fire services.

Team leader Pete Bell said: “The profile of our callouts has changed over the years, not only do we attend incidents on the high fells but we also carry out searches and rescues in all parts of County Durham.

“The provision of this base in Durham, as well as the quad station in Barnard Castle, will allow us to respond much more efficiently to help the residents and visitors to all of the county.”

The centre is being named after Chris Scott, from Tudhoe, near Spennymoor, who joined the organisation in 1968 and died in 2014, aged 75.

His widow Kathleen is unveiling a plaque at the event tomorrow.

The new centre includes an office, training, storage and drying facilities, a mezzanine floor and parking bays for rescue vehicles.

It will be used on training days and as a base during incidents.

Stuart Errington, chief fire officer for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We have always worked closely with other emergency services and organisations such as mountain rescue.

“Sharing locations and buildings as we are doing in Barnard Castle and Durham is a new extension of this collaboration and one that should be welcomed so we can all continue to provide the best possible response to the communities we serve.”