A SEARCH and rescue dog team helped find a vulnerable man who had been missing for nearly five days.

Firefighters from Braintree, Dunmow and Saffron Walden joined the service's search and rescue dog team, John Ball and Darcy, in assisting Essex Police as they searched for 58 year-old Michael Bell on Tuesday.

The diabetes sufferer had been missing since Friday, May 13 and fire crews and police officers scoured a large area of farmland in Finchingfield for nearly five hours before the man was found unconscious in a ditch. 

Firefighters helped perform first aid before an ambulance took Mr Bell to hospital.

The search is being used as an example of collaborative work taking place between Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and its blue lights partners.

The service has been working increasingly closely with them to share skills and resources.

This includes working with Essex Police delivering home safety advice as part of the parish safety volunteer scheme and working with the East of England Ambulance Trust on the co-responder scheme.

This sees fire crews at six fire stations responding to life threatening cardiac arrest calls.

Acting chief fire officer Adam Eckley said: “I could not be more proud of our crews and the vital role they played in this search. It is another example of the increasingly important role collaborative work play in helping us make Essex safer.

“Our firefighters are highly trained and highly skilled professionals and by using those skills with our blue lights partners together we can do even more and achieve even better."