MONEY taken from unscrupulous bankers has paid for vital training for mountain rescue teams in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd.

Fines levied for fraudulent banking practices have been put to good use training mountain rescue teams to deal with fast moving river and flood rescue situations, with the intention of improving their ability to respond to situations like last winter’s floods.

Last week, three volunteers from Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team, along with members of neighbouring South Snowdonia Search & Rescue Team and Aberglaslyn Mountain Rescue Team, attended a four-day Swift-Water Rescue Technician course on the River Dee at Llangollen.

Swift water rescue requires specialist training and equipment, working out at about £1k per trained rescuer, and the money came from funds set aside from the fines levied on banks following the LIBOR rate-fixing scandal of recent years.

See the full story in this Thursday’s Meirionnydd edition of the Cambrian News