A POPULAR village fair has handed over £500 to help keep the air ambulance flying.

Phil Tandy, chairman of the Damerham Village Fair Committee, presented the cheque to Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance chief executive John Perry at the Air Ambulance base at Thruxton Airfield.

The Air Ambulance is funded completely by community donations and receives no support from central Government. The EuroCopter EC135 helicopter costs around £125,000 per month to run and for each flight the pilot now has at least one doctor and a paramedic on board when scrambled to an accident.

Damerham Fair will be held on Saturday, July 26 this year.

All the funds raised are distributed to charities and local organisations – with a national charity as the main recipient outside of the village.

The British Heart Foundation will be the major beneficiary this year.

More information on this year’s fair can be found at www.damerhamfair.co.uk.