A campaign to raise £4m for a second air ambulance in London has been launched.

London’s Air Ambulance (LAA) currently has one helicopter – but wants to buy a second with the Your London Helicopter project by the end of the summer.

The charity has already raised more than £1.6m of its overall target of £6m.

In its 26-year history, the service has treated more than 30,000 critically ill patients, but says it could tend to an additional 400 with a second helicopter.

The LAA flies its current helicopter during daylight hours but was unavailable for 55 days last year due to maintenance work, and says a second helicopter will allow for extended daylight flying hours.

Graham Hodgkin, LAA's chief executive officer, said: "When London's current, and only, emergency medical helicopter is offline for servicing or maintenance, our patients need us to have recourse to a second helicopter immediately.

"When we are able to fly we can deliver the hospital to your side, wherever you are, up to eight times faster than in a response car."

The service has the world's highest survival rate for performing open chest surgery at the roadside, and a senior doctor is on board the aircraft as well as paramedics at all times.

A total of 1,806 patients were treated by the LAA in 2014.

A third of call-outs were in response to road traffic collisions, and just over a quarter were falls from height, while 24 per cent were stabbings and shootings.

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Are you holding any fundraising events for the LAA appeal? E-mail aslater@london.newsquest.co.uk with details.