A VITAL emergency service is hoping to get the go-ahead for a new £2.5m headquarters in the region.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service (YAAS) has enjoyed a raised profile since it rescued Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond after his much publicised crash at Elvington Airfield, near York.

The service is based at Leeds Bradford Airport, but wants to move to a new site at Tockwith, near York. Money for the new venture has been raised through various fundraising projects and donations.

Martin Eede, chief executive for YAAS, said: "Tockwith is the ideal air base for us. Leeds Bradford is the most bogged down airport in the country and currently there are about 300 missions a year that, for various reasons, we cannot get to.

"We needed to find somewhere central that minimised the flight time and was outside of the Military Aerodrome Traffic Zones. We have to be outside of those to take off very quickly, and the only place to do that is Tockwith.

"North and East Yorkshire Freemasons have launched an appeal to help us and other people are promising gifts and donations."

Mr Eede said there had only been one objection to the plan, which it was taking very seriously, but added that he hoped the plan would be finalised shortly.

The appeal launched by Mr Hammond's fans after his high speed accident has raised enough money to buy the service a second helicopter. At its peak, the appeal took £1 a second.

The helicopter has now arrived in the UK from Indonesia and is being kitted out in Gloucester. It is expected to be operational next month.

It will allow crews to attend many more calls and has night- flying capabilities to allow the crews to go on night rescue missions.

Mr Eede said: "This is going to push the boundaries forward. The big thing is that it is equipped for night flying and when we get CAA approval we will be able to fly 24 hours a day. No air ambulance is currently allowed to do emergency missions at night.