The team in action during a callout on Kirkfell Crags. Photo: Cockermouth MRT

A Lake District mountain rescue team is throwing open its doors to the public to celebrate its 70th anniversary.

Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team will stage rescue and search-dog simulations on Saturday.

Visitors can enjoy a tour of the base and the team is also hosting a taster session on a climbing wall. Refreshments are also on offer during the event, which will run from 10am to 2pm. Organisers of the open day said it was a way of thanking local people for their support.

A Cockermouth MRT spokesperson said: “The team came in to being on a Monday evening in 1953 at the Central Cafe on Cockermouth Main Street.

“Rusty Westmorland, George Fisher and Mike Nixon, members of the existing Keswick MRT, had come to speak to interested mountaineers about the requirement for a new team that would operate in the western valleys of the Lake District.”

The team has included 250 members in its lifetime, with levels of service ranging from a couple of years to 63 years. Its volunteers, operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The spokesperson said: “In its 70-year history, the team has attended roughly 2,900 rescues, a majority being individuals who have sustained injuries or become lost on the fells.

“There have been exceptions including: the flooding in 2009 and 2015; severe snowfall events; downed aircraft; a plethora of cragfast sheep; a raven and on one occasion a horse stuck in a bog.”

The open day will take place at Cockermouth MRT headquarters, off Station Road, next to the town’s fire station. There will be no parking at the base for the 17 June event, due to the demonstrations being set up.