Work will begin this month on a mountain rescue team’s new base - thanks to a hugely successful campaign to raise £550,000.

The new headquarters for the Wasdale volunteers will replace the current building, behind the Kellbank pub at Gosforth.

Team chairman, John Bamforth, said work was now taking place at the new site on the outskirts of Gosforth, on land owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

He expects the first sod to be cut by the end of the month, with the team moving into the base as early as the new year.

Mr Bamforth said: “It will take around six months to build. It’s a relatively straightforward design. It’s going to be a massive change for us and it will change a bit of the culture of the team because we have looked at the economics of how we do rescues and the layout will be slightly different.”

He added that the support they have received had been “incredible”. The bulk of the cash – £324,950 – came from the team’s own funds; Copeland Community Fund injected £218,146 into the project and a further £12,000 was awarded by the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association.

A fundraising campaign set up by Adam Nolan of Whitehaven, after his dog Jasper was rescued from the fells, saw more than £60,000 worth of donations flood in.

The new base will include a training tower to allow members to practise difficult rescues. It will also have a retractable 18m radio mast to allow for better communication between members.

The team is experiencing one of its busiest years for callouts and is looking for more volunteers. Anyone interested should get in touch through the website www.wmrt.org.uk