X697 USX This Land Rover Defender 110 is used by Dundonnell MRT in the Scottish North West Highlands.



The rear view, showing the ‘Order of St. John Transport Service’ logos.

NU56 GKY This is a Toyota Hilux that is used by the RAF Mountian Rescue Service. It is fitted with a hefty winch on the front and a range of blue flashing lights.



The rear view of the Hilux. Notice the number of flashing blue and red lights on the rear, partly due to the lack of visibility to the roof-mounted light bar.

YP05 WHS This very smart silver Land Rover is used in the Peak District by Edale MRT. Notice that it doesn’t have a blue light bar on the roof. Extra roof space is gained by having numerous flashing blue leds around the periphery of the roof rack.

T151 BST is a Ford Transit that is used in Scotland by Lochaber Mountian Rescue. The van is showing its age with patches of rust visible and a very minimal livery. A comms antenna and a blue light bar can be seen on the roof.

V388 ESX Here another of Lochaber MRT’s fleet can be seen alongside the Transit, a Land Rover Defender. Again it is minimally marked and has blue lights fitted to the front grille, but none on the roof.

In this scene, the Lochaber team scramble into a Royal Navy Sea King rescue helicopter to be transported to an emergency on the West coast of Scotland.

SS03 BVZ is a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter that is used in Scotland by the RAF Mountain Rescue Service.

P493 JAS is a blue Land Rover Defender that is used by the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team to respond to emergencies. The only clue that it is used by an emergency service is the blue beacon on the roof. It is used for towing a trailer.

J344 UDU is one of Swaledale MRT’s rescue ambulances. Based at Catterick, they respond to about 25 emergency calls per year. Notice the length of rope on the front and the ‘rescue’ mirror-image ‘number plate’.



The rear view of the 1992 Land Rover. Inside is seating, a stretcher and an array of equipment.



The above ambulance used to be a front line vehicle with Durham County Ambulance Service in the 1990s. Here it is in its former paint-scheme and roll in early 2000.

PY52 JSX & J238 BAO are two of Cockermouth MRT’s Land Rovers. They are parked in the valley as the team are on an exercise on Buttermere Fell in the background.

PY52 JSX This is a cloder look at the Land Rover used by Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team to get help to people who are in difficulties on the fells in the Lake District, Cumbria. A full blue light bar on the roof is complemented with repeaters on the front bumper and around the roof rack.



Flashing blue and white lights help motorists see the vehicle a distance away. This is the one of the three vehicles operated by Cockermouth MRT.



The rear view of the same Land Rover. You can see that the spare wheel cover has specially made art work on it, and the windows are tinted black.

G693 NHH leaving the rescue base. It is a 1990 blue Land Rover 110 V8 also with Cockermouth and is equipped in the same way as the 2002 example above. Notice the bulky winch fitted to the front and the orange paintwork around the grille to increase its road presence.



The rear view of the same Land Rover. It can carry eight people to an incident on the fells using its 182 bhp V8 engine. This Land Rover (G693 NHH) was made famous by being featured in a two-page spread in the “Big Book of Rescue Vehicles”.

J238 BAO This white Land Rover Defender 110 has a V8 petrol engine too. The front grille has orange and white checker markings across it and the vehicle has a full complement of blue flashing lights.



The rear view of the same go-anywhere Land Rover.

MX05 XFK is Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue Team’s Land Rover Defender ambulance. It has a simple battenburg livery and bright yellow grille to attract attention. It has a roof box for equipment next to the blue light bar. Repeater blue lights are on the front grille and front wings, as well as at the rear.

H881 XCK This is one of Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team’s Land Rover 110s. It has a bright yellow front grille and equipment stowed on the roof under the blue sheeting.

H881 CFR Another picturesque view of an almost identical sister vehicle.



The rear view of the Land Rover, showing the conspicuity of the livery.



The same Land Rover again with its previous livery which is less eye-catching from the rear.

L510 DFV This Leyland DAF is used by Bowland Pennine MRT as an incident control vehicle.

CN04 NPC is a Land Rover Defender 110 TD5 used by the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team. The roof and the inside of the vehicle are filled with specialist rescue equipment. Notice how the roof light bar is nearly covered by the substantial roof rack.



The rear view, showing the additional blue rotating beacon above the rear door. Notice the wording on the wheel cover advising other vehicles to stay back from the Land Rover.

This Land Rover is in service with Western Beacons Mountain Rescue Team. It has orange and white battenburg markings down the sides and blue lights on the roof rack.

PN02 SVR This is a Keswick Mountain Rescue Land Rover Defender Td5.



The side view of the same Landy. It has minimal livery but the bright orange stripe and roof make it stand out from other traffic. All sides have bright floodlights to illuminate the ground immediate around the vehicle.



The rear view. The high-intensity blue flashing lights at the rear complement the light bar at the front of the roof and the repeaters on the front grille. The white pole to the right is a telescopic communications antenna, essential in mountainous terrain where mobile ‘phones don’t work.



The rear three-quarter view. The registration plate is just visible behind the ladder and mesh protector.

PN02 SVP ‘SVP’ is the identical sister vehicle to ‘SVR’.

R242 WRM This is Keswick’s custom-built Ford Transit County. It is in the same livery as their Land Rovers, with just as much ground clearance.



The front view, showing the flashing lights and the roof rack.



The rear. The door is hinged at the top so it swings up and out of the way to allow a casualty on a stretcher to be loaded. The injured party is then driven to a waiting ambulance or taken directly to hospital.



The rear three-quarter view of the Transit. The roof rack can be quickly removed by unplugging the electrics and unclipping the metal clamps.

12 KJ 09 This RAF Mountain Rescue Landrover Defender 110 carries a yellow tiger-stripe livery over a dark green body colour. It is fitted with two blue rotating beacons on the roof.

Y221 PWT and YH03 OSB: A Land Rover Defender and a Vauxhall Movano from Holme Valley MRT. Notice that both vehicles carry blue lights, have a red and white checkered band down the sides and are labeled as ambulances.

In this scenic shot the MR Land Rover is joined by a RAF Sea King helicopter.

J263 TNC This is a Glossop Mountain Rescue Land Rover Defender. It has a blue light on the roof, with repeaters on the grille. Also note the small spotlights at either side of the windscreen and the equipment stowed on the roof.

YW52 FKX is a Mercedes RAF Mountain Rescue van at Loxley Hill, Hope.

This is one of three Land Rover Defenders run by the North West Mountain Rescue Team. They operate from Londonderry, Belfast and Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.

P143 UGG Also belonging to the North West MRT is this LDV Convoy. It is used for search and rescue purposes in areas such as that shown in the backdrop, but is not fitted with any blue beacons.

The next three photographs show the Northumberland National Park Search and Rescue Team. The team have been in operation since 1963 and are based at Northumbria Police’s headquarters in Ponteland near Newcastle. Using the highly capable Landrover, here we see a muddy and slippy hill descended with ease.

The Land Rover now enters deep, dirty water and is equally at home. The vehicles are fitted with blue flashing lights and ‘search and rescue ambulance’ lettering.

X56 WGR and M846 HCN Two of the Land Rovers comfortably make their way across the water.

V763 EDB A mountain rescue Land Rover outside one of the most famous pubs in the country, The Rovers Return from TV soap opera Coronation Street!

JP 01 AA
RAF Mountain Rescue
Land Rover Defender
A rather scenic view of a Lake District Fell with a RAF Mountain Rescue Land Rover. The versatility of this vehicle is perfect for the terrain the rescuers cover.

Combined personnel from Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team (BPMRT) and Rossendale Search and Rescue Team (RSRT) carry a ‘casualty’ to two Land Rover 110s. The BPMRT Land Rover (One Zero) is fitted with homemade detachable cages for all the equipment. They can easily be removed and put into another vehicle enabling a stretcher to be carried.



There is one noticeable difference between RSRT’s vehicle (on the left) and BPMRT’s (on the right) – the grille-mounted blue lights. BPMRT are now fitting these to all their vehicles to aid safe passage when using ‘blues and twos’. It was found that because the Land Rover is higher than most vehicles, when it was close behind a car the car driver was only able to see the grille and was unaware that it was an emergency vehicle. The grilles will also be painted fluorescent yellow.

V761 EDB This Land Rover is joined by two other 110s used by the Bolton Mountain Rescue Team, based in the Mid Pennines and the sister team of Bowland Pennine & Rossendale. Notice the ‘V’ shape of blue lights and the additional blue lights next to the winches.