A FIELD engineer from Calne has landed in Nepal with the Serve On International Response Team in response to the devastating earthquake that hit the country over the weekend.

Tony, 46, from Calne, landed around midday UK time today (Monday) is part of one of the first teams to reach the effected areas.

He and his Serve On colleagues are already actively taking part in their first search under the direction of local co-ordination centre.

Tony left the Serve On base at Salisbury Fire Station on Sunday morning in boarding an Air India flight from Heathrow Airport.

The team, a mixture of experienced rescuers with decades of experience, and highly trained team members who are deploying for the first time, are deploying with the equipment needed to locate signs of life underneath collapsed buildings and then safely recover people who have been even deeply entombed.

They are also self sufficient, carrying all of their own food and equipment, and have the capability to provide other rescuers or the affected community with up to 8,000 litres of safe filtered water to drink each day.

Whilst much of the rescue effort is currently in Kathmandu, they will be well placed to extend the search into the remote rural areas also affected.

SERVE ON IRT is a registered charity that relies on donations from the public to support their life saving work, and disaster response activity both overseas and in our own community.

For more information about their work please visit their website at www.serveon.org.uk, see their photos at @serve_on or facebook.com/serveonirt or contact the operations room 24/7 on 01722 439327.