RESIDENTS in Malborough have been invited to a public meeting to learn about plans to create a night landing site for the air ambulance.

The plans, drawn up by Malborough Village Hall & Playing Fields Association and Malborough Parish Council alongside Devon Air Ambulance Trust, would see a new steel pole with bright LED lights installed at the edge of playing fields.

DAAT is working with communities throughout the county to develop a network of landing sites in order to start flying into the hours of darkness, up to midnight, from October this year.

The trust says that during its summer time extended operational hours, when it flies until 9pm, it consistently attends 50 patients who, if their accident or illness had happened during the winter, they would not have been able to get to.

The proposed lighting system incorporates a new steel column which would be sited on the edge of the playing fields, with two LED lights illuminating the landing area, and a GSM switch, operated by mobile phone, which means the lights can be operated remotely.

The community landing site would be funded and managed by the local community, and Malborough is very lucky to have been offered 50 per cent match funding by the Rotary Club of Salcombe.

The drop in meeting is to be held at Malborough Village Hall on Wednesday, August 31 from 4pm to 7.30pm. Residents can find out more, and raise any queries with representatives from the parish, DAAT and the Rotary Club. DAAT will have information on display about the service they provide, and the technical data for the lighting column.