North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team, which is based in Okehampton, is hoping to secure a new base in the next 12 months.

The team currently rents a property in George Street behind the Natwest Bank. They have been based there since the late 1980s, with the rescue centre allowing the team to develop — it now has a control vehicle and LandRover, along with up-to-date rescue equipment. The current lease is up for renewal next year.

While the current site has served the NDSART well, the impending lease renewal has triggered the group to look at a potential new home that will better serve their needs.

Andrew Aiano, chair of NDSART said: 'The team decided that the opportunity was now available for the next stage of its development.

'The team is seeking a purpose-built centre which will not only meet its current needs, but will enable the team to plan and prepare for the future.

'This will mean buying or owning, rather than renting, a property. At the moment the team is planning to talk to a developer about a potential site in the industrial area off Exeter Road.

'A new centre would allow the team to garage its vehicles, store its growing search and rescue equipment and to have a training room in a modern and environmentally economic building, allowing access both to the northern sector of Dartmoor and to towns between Launceston and Exeter.

'It is thought the proposed centre would be in the region of £150,000 and the team is at the stage of putting a group of its members together which will manage the project, take control of the fundraising and organise the publicity.'

NDSART is a voluntary organisation linked to Mountain Rescue England and Wales. The group assists the police and other emergency services by providing a search and rescue facility for missing and injured persons 365 days a year.

The team is a registered charity and relies entirely on public donations to cover its £10,000 annual running costs.

The team is one of four that makes up the Dartmoor Rescue Group (DRG) — the east, south and west are covered by teams based at Ashburton, Plymouth and Tavistock.

The DRG was founded following a meeting in Tavistock in February 1968 to discuss the possibility of assembling a Dartmoor rescue team. It followed a high profile incident on Dartmoor in November 1967, when two Army Officer Cadets died of hypothermia. By 1969 the 'North Moor Section' of the Dartmoor Rescue Group in Okehampton was formalised.

NDSART consists of around 40 highly skilled volunteers, all from different walks of life with different attributes. Each member goes through a 6 to 18 months period of training including navigation, search techniques, casualty care, communications and helicopter deployment and evacuation. The group also has a swift water rescue facility.

The team has extended its skills and duties, with around half of callouts being away from Dartmoor itself. They have been involved in callouts from Hayle, Minehead and Axminster as well as the callouts on the moors.

For more information on the group, visit http://www.ndsart.org.uk">www.ndsart.org.uk

On the website, people can find out how to donate money to the team and how to become a member of NDSART.