A CAMPAIGN to raise �50,000 to buy new life-saving equipment for the region’s air ambulance service is gathering pace.

The Lifesaver Appeal – run by the East Anglian Daily Times with sister paper the Eastern Daily Press – has nearly hit the �7,000 mark.

The fundraising drive, which has been backed by Suffolk MPs Dr Daniel Poulter and Dr Therese Coffey, will help pay for a new ventilator machine, ultrasound and two blood analysers.

East Anglian Air Amb-ulance, which covers Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, does not receive any Government funding and has to raise �6million a year to operate.

The EADT campaign has raised nearly �2,000 directly from readers and a further �5,000 from Needham Market-based firm BTS Group, arboriculture and electrical contractors.

The company made the donation after air ambulance crews helped its employee Tom Connelly, 22, survive a horrendous accident in which he nearly beheaded himself with a chainsaw.

EADT editor Terry Hunt said: “Any one of us, or our loved ones, could need the air ambulance to help in a crisis. So many people have reason to be extremely grateful to this fantastic service.

“The Lifesaver Appeal will mean the air ambulance can provide an even better service. EADT readers always rally brilliantly, and generously, to help a good cause. If you can help in any way, then please do so.”