A SECOND air ambulance for London has been bought after a huge fundraising drive.

The MD902 Explorer will be flown in from Qatar and put in service early after Londoners helped raise over £4m.

It is hoped the aircraft will be operational in early 2016 although another £2m is needed to complete the modification project.

Graham Hodgkin, Chief Executive Officer at London’s Air Ambulance, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have now completed the acquisition of our second MD902 Explorer helicopter.

“While more money still needs to be raised and there is still more work to do to get the aircraft ready for UK HEMS operations, this is a truly exciting development for London and the biggest step-change in our service resilience in the charity’s history.”

When the second aircraft is mobile the team will be able to extend daylight flying hours in the summer months.

It is estimated this will allow the service to reach an extra 400 casualties.