Kendal team members in action during last year's floods. Photo: Kendal MSRT

A Cumbrian rescue team saw its callouts rise to a new high last year.

Kendal Mountain Search and Rescue Team responded to 73 alerts in 2015, an increase of 20 per cent over its previous record.

Its volunteers were called on to help walkers and others in the hills and countryside of the Lake District and surrounding area, but also on the region’s rivers, coasts and in the team’s home town.

It was also requested to help fellow Lake District teams more frequently.

A team spokesperson said there was little to suggest any one reason for the increase in demand on Kendal MSRT’s services, though weather played its part, with the team called out to help ambulance staff during March’s snowy period, and the torrential rains of November and December leading to flooding.

Team leader Dave Howarth said: “I’m very grateful to the team members and their families for all the time they have put in this year.

“I would also like to thank all the people who have raised funds or donated to us this year.

“We could not have responded to all of these incidents without them. In particular, the recent floods show that mountain rescue is so much more than mountains and we are proud to be able to help the community we are part of in whatever we can.”

The team was formed in the 1950s to search for and rescue any people in distress, primarily on the Lakeland fells. It has come a long way since then and includes a number of team members who are trained in swiftwater rescue techniques that prove invaluable in flooding situations.

Kendal MSRT relies in public donations to continue to provide its service and much of the £50,000 a year it costs to run the team comes from the local community.