WILTSHIRE Air Ambulance has achieved its fundraising target to raise £12,000 for essential equipment in less than one day.

The charity took part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, in a bid to raise enough funds for four state-of-the-art ventilators, which are vital for critically injured patients and casualties who stop breathing.

The new ventilators will be based in the charity's Bell 429 helicopter, two of its rapid response vehicles and another will be used for training and as a back up.

A post on the charity's Facebook page said: "We have just had confirmation that we have hit our Big Give Christmas challenge target in less than one day.

"Thank you so much to everyone who donated."

The money raised will be doubled to £24,000 through matched funds pledged by businesses and trusts.

Wiltshire Air Ambulance fundraising manager Des Regan added:

Des Regan, fundraising manager at Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said: “We’d like to thank everyone who donated to the Big Give Christmas Challenge and I’m delighted to say that we achieved our fundraising target of £24,000.

“The money raised by our generous supporters will be used to buy four state-of-the-art ventilators to treat critically injured or ill patients. The new ventilators we will be purchasing are more sophisticated than our existing machines as they can adapt to the individual requirement of patients, including children.

“We rely on donations to provide our lifesaving service. Our specialist paramedics and doctors are trained in critical care skills and, together with the specialist medical equipment they use, it enables them to deliver gold standard medical care.”