A MERCY team was called out 23 times in three days as wintry conditions gripped East Lancashire.

Rossendale Search and Rescue's record year of calls ended on New Year's Eve when, in arctic conditions, the team was called to Grane Road, Haslingden, to help out in a road accident.

It all helped to make Millennium Year the busiest ever for the 35-strong voluntary group, which recorded 122 call-outs -- a near 50 per cent increase on 1999.

The team increasingly provides high-level support for the statutory emergency services in a variety of disciplines.

Last year's calls included the recovery of a suicide victim from woodland and the recovery of the remains of a man who had been missing for three years.

The team also searched for a missing schoolgirl swept away by floods on the River Ribble, took part in a crag rescue at Widdup, requiring extensive rope skill and first aid, and were called to the eight-hour rescue of three walkers off Pendle Hill, involving a long stretcher carry to a waiting RAF helicopter. There were also numerous missing person searches, not to mention the rescue of a lone sheep stranded on a cliff.

Team leader Dave Barrington said: "This team is one of the busiest in the country and with ever stronger links with the police and ambulance services, will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. I can only thank the team and their families for their unselfish dedication in the face of the increasing workload."

Search and Rescue spokesman Andy Simpson said volunteers underwent at least 12 months' training before getting onto the team, proficient in a wide range of skills ranging from radio communication to casualty handling.