THE sale of a heifer has put more than £1,000 into funds for an air ambulance in Cumbria.

Farmer Jonathan Woodmass, 33, who farms at Howard House Farm, Gilsland, sold the year-old Belgian Blue X heifer on Wednesday of last week at a special sale of store cattle at Borderway Mart, Carlisle.

Leicestershire cattle show man Gordon Amos paid £820 for the heifer and this was increased to £1,061 by donations from auction company Harrison and Hetherington, customers and the general public.

Mr Woodmass decided to give the proceeds from the heifer to Great North Air Ambulance after his life was saved by the Northumberland air ambulance last year.

Ironically, it was while he was helping the mother give birth to the calf he sold that she attacked him, causing serious internal injuries. The air ambulance from Blyth was called and the eight-minute flight to the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, saved his life, according to his surgeon.

Mr Woodmass, who was overwhelmed by the response from people around the packed Borderway ringside, said: "It really took me by surprise. The true value of the heifer was probably about £600, but Gordon Amos was determined to have it."

Mr Amos intends to show the heifer, its first outing probably being at Uppingham, in Rutland.

Mr Woodmass has already raised more than £2,000 for the air ambulance, mainly from a raffle.