Formed in 1968 to provide a voluntary search & rescue service for the local moorlands north of Bolton & Bury, within the Greater Manchester and Lancashire County areas (now designated the West Pennine Moors), the team is increasingly utilised by Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Constabulary to assist in searches for missing persons (usually young, elderly or infirm) throughout their respective force areas. Many of these searches unfortunately have tragic conclusions.
The team works in support of North West Ambulance Service, Greater Manchester Area & Lancashire Area, providing casualty evacuation skills, specialist equipment, and four wheel drive vehicles. The team also works alongside and in support of the North West Air Ambulance service, and Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service.
The team also assists other Mountain Rescue teams and police forces throughout the North West and occasionally into North Wales, and has even been involved in missing person searches in coastal areas, for example on the sand dunes near Prestatyn and Lune Estuary at Lancaster.
Database: 1994 – present
We have a full & complete database of all incidents we have attended since 1994. Information (& multimedia for selected incidents) is grouped by year. Please select the year you wish to view below.
| Year | Number of incidents |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 15 |
| 1995 | 31 |
| 1996 | 40 |
| 1997 | 37 |
| 1998 | 63 |
| 1999 | 75 |
| 2000 | 92 |
| 2001 | 59 |
| 2002 | 99 |
| 2003 | 102 |
| 2004 | 96 |
| 2005 | 135 |
| 2006 | 203 |
| 2007 | 206 |
| 2008 | 128 |
| 2009 | 103 |
| 2010 | 113 |
| 2011 | 74 |
| 2012 | 103 |
| 2013 | 110 |
| 2014 | 99 |
| 2015 | 99 |
Typically as new incidents occur, details will be added within 48 hours.
