HUNDREDS of runners raised £1,000 for charity whilst getting an inside look at the Upper Heyford Airbase.

About 800 fundraisers made their way round the hangars for the Race at the Base event which was held to raise funds for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

The race hoped to give runners a behind-the-scenes look at the former US Air Force base and saw runners take to the runways and weave round the hangars to tackle a 5k, 10k or half marathon route.

Thames Valley Air Ambulance supporter fundraising manager Kate Martin said: "Thames Valley Air Ambulance takes great pride in the support it gets from businesses within our catchment area.

"It was great to see Dorchester Living pairing up with one of our long standing supporters Purple Patch Running to put on an event of this magnitude and use it to raise vital funds for our service."

A number of activities including children's funfair rides were also staged throughout the event to help raise funds for the air ambulance emergency service.

The Thames Valley service launched in 1999 and has so far flown more than 15,000 missions – averaging three flights a day.

It relies entirely on donations from the communities of Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and this year officially launched £4.5m helicopter which means the charity can run more night flights.