THE Yorkshire Dales is just one part of the country that acts as a training ground for military helicopters. It does however cause problems for some members of the community such as farmers and riders whose horses can be spooked by low flying helicopters, particularly if unaccustomed to the noise.

Campaign for horse riders to be visible
from the air

The Ministry of Defence and the British Horse Society (BHS) have now teamed up to give away 400 sets of high visibility clothing to horse riders as part of a joint campaign to encourage riders to be seen by low flying helicopters.

Under Secretary of State for Defence, Tom Watson, handed the high visibility riding sets to BHS Chief Executive, Graham Cory, today at RAF Benson.

Mr Watson said: "British military helicopters are providing vital support in the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanistan. They provide a Search and Rescue capability in the UK and have helped in humanitarian aid missions, including the Pakistan earthquake.

"Low flying is an essential part of these operations and we must train our helicopter crews and support personnel for such missions.

"We recognise that there is the potential for our training in the UK to cause disturbance to members of the public, particularly the riding community. We have reduced our training requirements to the minimum necessary to produce fully-trained forces but we are committed to taking forward safety issues wherever possible."

An MOD trial carried out last year found that the largest single factor that offered an improvement to rider safety would be the increased use of high visibility clothing.

Accepting the high visibility sets, Graham Cory of the British Horse Society said:

"The key message to come out of the review - that a horse and rider who can be seen in good time can be avoided in good time - was graphically demonstrated in the video taken from a fast, low flying Puma helicopter.

"Properly attired riders and horses were visible in plenty of time for the pilots to take appropriate evasive action; those which were not so attired were invisible until the very last moment."

The high visibility rider tabards will be distributed to the first riders to apply. Applications should be made by emailing modviz@bhs.org.uk

• More information for riders is available from the MoD's free-phone low flying helpline 0800 51 55 44.

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