A £500 donation to Wiltshire Search and Rescue for a new radio will help find vulnerable missing people faster.

The money for a digital radio base unit was raised thanks to community fundraisers at the Tesco store on Ocotal Way and the World Jamboree Scout Group.

Community champions Michelle Hobbs and Sharon Blake from Tesco donated prizes to a tombola and local scouts did bag packing in the store to raise the extra funds.

Adrian Sawyer, former chairman of the organisation told the Adver: "The radio base unit will sit in our control vehicle and it means we've got secure quality communication whilst we're dealing with life-threatening missing person cases.

"The new radio system is encrypted which guarantees privacy and also increases the range of radio messages so it's really going to help us saving lives across Wiltshire.

"The Wiltshire Scout Jamboree and staff at Tesco have done a fantastic job putting back into their community."

The search and rescue service, which is entirely staffed by volunteers, has responded to 62 incidents so far this year.

It is called upon by Wiltshire Police and other emergency services when they are looking for high-risk missing persons, operating all year round, seven days a week.

The new radio will help coordinate searches from inside the incident support unit vehicle, based at Wiltshire Police’s HQ in Devizes.