THE Great North Air Ambulance Service is searching for corporate sponsors.

The service is without a sponsor now that its association with J Barbour and Sons and the Automobile Association has ended.

The service needs to raise £800,000 every year which has previously come mainly from corporate sponsorship, public donations and an in-house lottery.

Chief executive Grahame Pickering said: "Success in supporting air ambulances in other areas comes from a people's pride in ownership, as in The Great North Air Ambulance Service, and usually from companies with strong regional identities."

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance based at Leeds-Bradford Airport, which also operates in the region, has flown for the past three years.

The service also launched a helicopter from Teesside Airport to cover South West Durham for a one month trial period.

Anyone who would like to sponsor the service can contact officers at the Northumberland Wing, The Imperial Centre, Grange Road, Darlington, or by telephone on (01325) 487263.