THE Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Team has had a significant boost to its building extension appeal from a Government scheme that directs some company landfill taxation to local community projects.

The team is to receive £25,000 from Tarmac, part of the CRH group which owns and runs landfill sites in the Dales.

Members dealt with a record 57 callouts last year and the £240,000 extension at their Grassington headquarters, The Hut, will provide much-needed extra space for training and the storage of equipment,

UWFRA chairman Peter Huff said: "We applied for some funding support from the Landfill Community Scheme last year. The fund is a tax credit scheme enabling operators of landfill sites to contribute a portion of their landfill tax liability to local communities and environmental organisations to try offset some of the impact of living and operating amongst the company activities."

As well as directly helping organisations like UWFRA, the grant, in effect, brings double benefit to the local community as one of the conditions requires recipients to allow local groups to have some use of the facilities paid for by the grant.

Peter added: "In our case this will cover the new meeting and lecture room, the new training area and the kitchen and toilet facilities. We have yet to work out how this occasional use can best work amongst our callouts but it’s a good scheme and we look forward to helping these local groups in this way."

Completion of the building is some way off, but the team intends to hold an open day in due course to showcase the new facilities.