IT seems incredible that the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance has notched up a whopping 25,000 rescue missions since it was first launched in 1998.

The life-saving service hit the milestone figure on New Year’s Day when its crew attended a car crash.

Its rapid response teams were called out to more than 2,000 incidents in 2019 - a big increase on the previous year.

That is partly down to the fact that since October the air ambulance now operates 24/7.

That, of course, costs more money and the air ambulance relies entirely on charitable donations.

It costs millions of pounds a year to keep the helicopters flying.

Thankfully the public continue to dig deep to fund this vital service.