A new Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) platform has been created at Norwich airport.

The new addition outside the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) hangar at Norwich Airport means that the emergency medical team can conveniently transfer vital equipment to the awaiting RRV, saving valuable time.

Prior to the installation of the platform critical care paramedics and doctors were unable to lay equipment on the ground while loading or unloading the RRV due to the risk of contamination.

Materials donated for the platform by timber merchants Ridgeons included ten 60x60cm concrete paving slabs, three quarters of a tonne of building sand, six bags of cement and one small bag of gravel.

Local builder Simon Youngman, along with two volunteers, donated time to lay the platform.

Tim Wigby, Norwich branch manager for Ridgeons, said: 'We were only too pleased to be able to help and we look forward to assisting the EAAA efforts further this year, with a variety of fundraising events at our branch.'

The EAAA has been selected as Ridgeons' chosen charity for 2014.

This is the second year running and through a variety of activities and events across the region employees are hoping to match and exceed the amount which they achieved last year.

Operating a 365 day a year helicopter emergency medical service, the EAAA has two helicopters based in Norwich and a second based in Cambridge.

The EAAA flies four or five missions a day, responding to a number of different emergency situations to provide a service to a rural area of the country.

Each mission flown costs about £2,270 so maintaining the annual fund raising target of £7.6m is crucial in continuing to help save lives.