THE parents of Dauntsey's School student Hugo Halkes, who died after a road accident in Devizes aged 12, have joined the Gazette's fight to save the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

Nigel and Lyn Halkes say their son was given a better chance of life because he was airlifted to hospital.

In a letter to the ambulance trust they say: "Tragically Hugo died from his injuries on September 10, 2007, but we only got the chance to try and save his life because of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Service."

The couple, who live in Milton Lilbourne, near Pewsey, were horrified to read in last week's Gazette that the air ambulance service in Wiltshire is under threat and the helicopter could be moved to Filton, near Bristol.

They have written to Great Western Ambulance Service Trust chief executive Tim Lynch and Devizes MP Michael Ancram.

They, like many families of people helped by the air ambulance, have raised large amounts of money to help its funding.

They raised £20,000 for the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford where Hugo died.

They said: "We have subsequently been asking family and friends to make further donations to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal. To date more than £5,000 has been raised in Hugo's name to help maintain this essential service to the people living in or visiting Wiltshire.

"Wiltshire is a large county with a widely dispersed population, so it can take a considerable time to travel by road to the nearest hospital with an accident and emergency unit.

"The Wiltshire Air Ambulance Service is therefore essential to get people to hospital quickly, especially in life or death situations. The current arrangement with Wiltshire Police, which provides close to 24 hour coverage, seven days a week, should be preserved and continued."

Hugo was critically injured as he tried to cross Potterne Road, Devizes, with friends who had been at a birthday party at a house in the road on September 4.

He was initially airlifted to the Great Western Hospital, Swindon and then transferred to Oxford.

This week Wiltshire's chief constable Brian Moore added his voice to the campaign to save the helicopter.