With a small number of team at our base, writing up reports of the day’s incidents, cleaning kit, repairing damaged items arising from the multitude of incidents we have attended (including broken vehicles!), the team was paged by Lancashire Constabulary at 17:24 regarding an urgent search for a missing person, centred in the Belmont and Rivington areas, giving police cause for concern for his welfare.

Over the telephone, very experienced team member Mike Marsh discussed an immediate search strategy with Lancashire Constabulary’s Force Incident Manager, which included searching moorland carpark and layby areas.

Just as we were initiating a full team callout following these urgent initial discussions, the excellent news came back to the team from Lancashire Constabulary that their officers had safely located the missing man in the very bad winter ground conditions prevailing, and there was no further requirement for the team’s involvement.