Penrith Mountain Rescue Team’s Land Rover Defenders have undergone a major rebuild to give them a new lease of life.
The two vehicles are 13 years old and were adapted for mountain rescue use. Their age was starting to show but as the model was discontinued six years ago, there were few alternatives available to replace them with.
The vehicles need to have an off-road capability, the capacity to carry a casualty on a stretcher and be generally tough to cope with the conditions the team is often called out in.
Now, work carried out by Land Rover specialists Simon Huntington Ltd of Wigton to rebuild and refurbish the vehicles means they should serve the team until well into the 2030s.
The work included replacement of the chassis for both vehicles with a new, galvanised version. The rebuilds were undertaken late in 2021 for the first vehicle and early this year for the second and Simon lent the team a Freelander while each Defender was being rebuilt. This meant that a good level of operational capability was maintained throughout the refurbishment.
Ast Ltd in Penrith replaced all the bodywork graphics, to the national specification provided by Mountain Rescue England and Wales.
Simon, of Simon Huntington Ltd, said: “We were delighted to be approached by Penrith Mountain Rescue Team to carry out the rebuilds on both their Land Rover Defenders.
“These vehicles will now enjoy the longevity and reliability needed for many years to come. We are grateful to have had the team’s trust to complete the standard of work that we strive to achieve on every vehicle at Simon Huntington Ltd.”
Nathan Aston, key account manager for Ast said: “It was great to work alongside Penrith Mountain Rescue Team and create a bespoke design for their two emergency service vehicles. We are very proud to have been involved in the project as we are grateful for all the essential hard work the team does.”
The team said it was also grateful to the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association for a grant from its funds that largely covered the cost of the refurbishment project.
