THANK YOU! That's the message from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to the people of York and North Yorkshire, after a record-breaking fundraising year.

More than 14,000 people in 2006 donated money to the service - which is run as a charity, and receives no Government funding.

Chief executive Martin Eede said: "We have enjoyed a 50 per cent growth in donations and, as I can't possibly thank everybody who has supported us in person, I wanted to publicly express our heartfelt gratitude to the good people of Yorkshire and beyond for their generosity."

"More than 14,000 people made donations that we know of - and many more who we don't know - so it is important to me that everyone knows how appreciative we are," he said.

"The help we received during the last 12 months has enabled us to purchase our current state-of-the-art MD 902 Explorer helicopter, open the UK's first air-tasking desk, extend our flying hours to dawn to dusk 365 days a year and buy a fast response vehicle.

"This support has enabled us to fly nearly 1,000 missions this year to all parts of Yorkshire and beyond - but we know that there were a further 300 missions we couldn't attend because we only have the one helicopter."

Mr Eede said the six-year-old charity had received a particular boost from fans of Richard Hammond. The air ambulance hit headlines nationwide after flying the seriously injured TV presenter to hospital after a high-speed crash.

Air ambulance paramedics even appeared on Channel 4's New Years Eve TV show The 2006 Fame Review for the part they played in the rescue.

As reported in The Press, the charity now hopes to have a second helicopter in the skies by the summer.

But Mr Eede warned that this in itself would present "a massive new challenge" to the charity and its donors.

"Rather than the present £3,500 a day needed to keep our current helicopter operational, we will be looking at a cost of £5,500 a day to keep two airborne," he said.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but it will vastly improve our service and enable us to help even more people, so I am more than confident that Yorkshire people will rise to the challenge and do us and the county proud in 2007," he said.