THESE women from the west of England's equestrian world have all stripped off to their lingerie to help raise funds for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

The ladies, who are either hunters, show jumpers, or into eventing or dressage, have all taken part in the 'Foxy Hunters ' calendar for 2015, now in its sixth year.

The calendar has raised almost £100,000 for the air ambulance since it was conceived by photographer David Betteridge in 2009.

Mr Betteridge, of DHB Photography, told the Standard he set up the calendar after a friend's life was saved by the by the Hampshire and IOW Air Ambulance Crew, after a riding accident.

"My friend was riding a horse which went through a fence and then landed on top of her," Mr Betteridge explained.

"She was airlifted to Oxford's John Radcliffe hospital where a blood clot was then removed from her brain. But for that, she wouldn't be here. The surgeons later told her that had the journey been by road it would have killed her."

All of the models, from the riding scene in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Devon, are amateurs and for most of them it was their first time in front of a camera.

The popularity of the 'Foxy Hunters ' calendar has seen money raised for the air ambulance snowball from £5,500 in its first year to almost £100,000 to date - half of which came this year alone.

For the past 20 years, a single helicopter has been shared by the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust and Wiltshire Police.

But this will stop after the force was told by the Home Office to use aircraft provided by the National Police Air Service (NPAS).

This means the air ambulance costs will now almost triple from £700,000 a year to £2.5m.

The charity's trustees have announced they will lease a new Bell 429 helicopter, which will be the first to operate as an air ambulance in the UK.

It will come into service by December 1, when the lease on the current 12-year-old aircraft expires.

The calendar is available via the website foxyhunters.co.uk priced at £12.50 plus post and packing.