A NORTH Yorkshire Police officer has raised nearly £6,000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance after completing the London Marathon.

Paul Cording, a roads policing sergeant, had no doubt about which charity to support when entering his first ever marathon.

“With my job, I am on the scene of quite a lot of fatal and life changing road traffic collisions and I see at first hand the amazing work the Yorkshire Air Ambulance do,” he said.

“I cover the whole of North Yorkshire which has 6,000 miles of road covering everything from very rural areas to major towns and coastal resorts and the air ambulance can get everywhere in such a short period of time.

“I see on a weekly basis the benefits the service brings in getting patients to major trauma centres within that first golden hour so they have the very best chance of survival and recovery.”

Sgt Cording, 45, is a regular hockey player rather than runner but completed the 26.2 miles in under five hours and would recommend the experience to everyone. He added: “It was a really great day, and such a humbling experience. I have been just blown away by people’s generosity.”