A VITAL Hampshire emergency service will reaching a major landmark today.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance will celebrate its 1,000th landing at Southampton General Hospital’s helipad.

Daily Echo: The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance landing at the helipad.

The air ambulance lands at Southampton General Hospital's helipad

It is part of the hospital’s annual open day and will give the public the chance to look around the helicopter and speak to its crew.

Since opening in November 2011, the helipad receives an average of one flight per day from 15 different organisations , including the coastguard, navy and air force, while the air ambulance has made up more than half the visits.

Patients of all ages are flown in from Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and other parts of the UK, including further afield now that the hospital is a designated major trauma centre.

The air ambulance is one of several exciting things to see at the hospital open day, which will be launched by Saints legend Francis Benali at 11am.