RIVER rescues will be made quicker and safer thanks to a new radio communications system.

Members of the Upton-upon-Severn branch of the Severn Area Rescue Association currently have to contact each other and other emergency services via mobile phones.

The new system, which will come online in the next three months, will enable rescue workers at each end of the Severn to communicate with each other via handsets, and to keep in constant contact with air ambulance and mountain rescue services throughout any rescue.

It is being developed by SARA member Duncan Will-iams, of Blackmore Road, and will be used by SARA stations from Stourport to the Severn Estuary.

"People's lives can depend on good communications in a rescue situation," said Mr Williams. He recognised the need for such a system during a recent rescue when he had to ring the police switchboard to be patched through to the air ambulance.

Mr Williams has 30 years' experience of communications engineering, including setting up networks for police, fire and ambulance services around the world.

A national mountain rescue organisation has expressed interest in using his system.

Its range is due to the use of an essential radio mast at the Wyche Cutting, which Mr Williams erected in 1982. It is now an integral part of the network for emergency and breakdown services, commercial enterprises and gas and electricity boards, allowing coverage of 50 miles either side of the Malverns.

He retains a major interest in the aerial and is letting SARA use capacity free, as well as providing fellow SARA volunteers with training in radio protocols and the phonetic alphabet.