YORKSHIRE Air Ambulance's chief pilot has warned people not to shine lasers at his crews as they go about their life-saving work.

Owen McTeggart made the plea after a laser was fired at the air ambulance in the Baildon area earlier this month.

Mr McTeggart told the T&A: "If we get a laser attack while trying to land at the site of an incident, it means we cannot land and the injured person on the ground doesn't get the care that we are there to provide.

"It doesn't take much for the eyes to be permanently damaged by a laser - and while the laser itself might not be a danger if it doesn't make contact with the eyes, it is a massive distraction for the crew during a critical stage of flight and causes much distress.  

"A lot of it is ignorance of the implications to our operations.

"And I'm sure most people that point a laser at a helicopter think it's just a laugh and no harm is caused.

"But it can, in some cases, have life-changing consequences for the pilot, the crew and, if it's an air ambulance, the patient in the back they are trying to save."