County Durham
| NORTH YORKSHIRE |  | | | CLEVELAND | | | COUNTY DURHAM | | |
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Reprieve for police helicopter after Commons debate
THE threat to ground one of the region's crime-fighting helicopters was dramatically lifted on Wednesday when the Government agreed to delay new safety rules.
In a Commons debate, a Home Office minister announced that a 2010 deadline requiring two pilots would be relaxed to give North-East police forces more time to buy a new £3.6m aircraft.
Meg Hillier also signalled that a bid for £1.4m of Home Office funding towards that cost would be successful if it was put in by the end of this year.
However, the rescue plan will require the three police authorities in the North-East air support unit - Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria - to settle their differences and put in a joint bid.
The authorities have been at loggerheads over the future of the £700,000 unit, after Northumbria and Durham announced, at short notice, that they were pulling out.
The pair suggested instead that the one surviving helicopter be based at Newcastle Airport, with the aircraft currently stationed at Durham Tees Valley Airport axed.
Frank Cook, the Stockton North MP who staged Wednesday's debate, urged the three authorities to grasp the lifeline to "protect the people of the region."
The Labour backbencher said: "What the minister said is very promising. There is no doubt that we need to pursue this money that is now available to us.
"I know that the Cleveland authority and force will respond positively - and I earnestly hope that there will be a similar response in Durham and Northumbria."
Last month, furious Cleveland MPs and councillors accused the other authorities of attempting to make a decision in secret on the future of the helicopters.
They also pointed to growing use of the service in the south of the region - including to pinpoint a growing number of cannabis farms - while it had fallen in Tyneside.
Responding to Mr Cook in the Commons, Ms Hillier explained that the Civil Aviation Authority deadline for all helicopters to have two pilots for night-flying was April 2010.
But she said: "It would be prepared to consider individual representations for short-term alleviation to allow for equipment to be procured."
Meanwhile, a £5m Home Office fund for new equipment would look favourably on a North-East bid because it was the only region still wrestling with the problem triggered by the new safety rules.
Speaking afterwards, Ms Hillier said the deadline could be stretched by one year to April 2011, because it could take two years to procure a new helicopter, even if the go-ahead was given next April.
Mr Cook suggested the Cleveland authority could bid in partnership with North Yorkshire, if it was unable to reach agreement with Durham and Northumbria.
6:30pm Wednesday 14th May 2008
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