Phenomenal," is the word used by Dave, the Essex Air Ambulance representative when Sylvia Maltwood handed him a cheque in the amount of £6,174.81 last week, down at the Ferry Boat Inn.

This fantastic amount was raised in just one day down at the pub, when a fundraising fun evening was held in July, in memory of landlord Roy Maltwood.

Dave said that this was an exceptionally large amount of money to be raised at just one event, that it was obvious Roy was held in high esteem and that everyone must have had a lot of respect for him.

He expressed the sincere gratitude and appreciation Essex Air Ambulance staff were to receive the cheque.

There is no Government funding for the air ambulance so it relies wholly on donations. It costs £12,000 to £15,000 every time the helicopter takes off and approximately £105,000 a month to run.

It takes off on average five to seven times a day, gets airborne in just two minutes, takes 17 to 18 minutes to reach anywhere in Essex and no more than eight minutes from there to the nearest hospital.

Essex are the leaders with their new helicopter, which can take one stretcher case and one parent or sitting wounded.

The service is short of volunteers, there being 110 so far and it is a non-stop effort to keep it going, so everyone will know how much they appreciate large cheques like the one presented to them this time.

Dave said that he, on behalf of Essex Air Ambulance, thanked everyone who gave so generously and the "brave gentleman who shaved his long standing beard off".

Sylvia said that she would like to thank everyone for the wonderful support and generosity given to her in Roy's memory at this event, the staff at the Ferry Boat, the raffle prize donors, H for the disco, Never Grew Up and all those who helped on the day, and to Sarah and Mark Palmer for their organisation.

Everyone agreed that Roy would have really enjoyed the evening.

The Ferry Boat had always been a very keen supporter of Essex Air Ambulance and has raised large amounts of money from the sale of books from the box on the counter, which customers donate and buy from.