AN AIR ambulance helicopter caused a stir at a York primary school when it landed on the playing field.

The Clifton School and Nursery at St Peter’s School have been fundraising for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) and hope to raise £3,000.

The school, which has about 215 pupils aged between three and eight, chose the YAA as their charity of the year.

Pupils spent the day yesterday participating in activities, including an obstacle course competition as they tried to rescue teddy bears as well as making model helicopters and helicopter hats. The whole school turned out to watch the helicopter come in to land on the rugby pitch at about 2pm, followed by a question and answer session with the crew.

Head of Clifton School Phil Hardy said: “The surprise visit of a helicopter was bound to be fantastic. The children’s faces were a picture.

“They had a great day of fundraising lined up and we’re very fortunate to be able to learn how the charity works in emergencies.”

Deputy head, Chris Tidswell, said: “We have a fundraising target of £3,000 and we are getting there. The school council has representatives for all year groups, Years 1-3, and they have been thoroughly involved in the organisation of the day’s events.”

David Hebden, from the charity, said: “We wouldn’t normally land the helicopter on school grounds, but this was a special exception.

“The aircraft took ten minutes to get to Clifton from Nostell Priory, near Wakefield, where our helicopters are based. We need £9,990 a day to run the two helicopters we have and are very grateful to the school for choosing us as their charity.”