Not all 4x4s are used exclusively for the 'school run'. David Clensy meets the ordinary drivers who volunteer to help those in need during times of crisis

T hey may love their jobs, working at the Screwfix HQ in Yeovil, but for Bob Hatcher and John Packer, the long days in the warehouse aren't exactly exciting and action-packed.

But all that changes when they get into their powerful 4x4 vehicles, turn on the flashing yellow lights, and drive off into a blizzard or a flood.

Bob and John are just two of the 60-strong team of unpaid rescue workers who volunteer their time and resources to make sure the West keeps functioning in times of crisis.

Wessex 4X4 Response was set up in 2002 as a charity offering assistance to the Civil Contingency Units for Somerset, Bristol, Wiltshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall. It is one of 21 similar volunteer 4x4 response organisations throughout the country. "We have volunteers spread right out across the region," explains Bob, who acts as radio controller during incidents. "So we can mobilise them and get them out to anywhere in the South West within 20 minutes.

"We're not an emergency service or a rescue service, but we offer vital support to the emergency services at times when they're most stretched.

"Our people do it out of a genuine sense of social awareness," Bob says. "About 50 per cent of our volunteers have previously served in either the emergency services or the armed forces, so they're already in the mindset of helping others at times of crisis.

"That can be anything, from helping police cordon off an area if there's a bomb scare, to assisting with the flow of supplies to villagers who have been cut off by rising flood waters."

The recent Arctic conditions and heavy snowfalls gave the 4x4 responders their biggest challenge yet.

"The snow we've seen through January and February has offered us our harshest conditions to date," says John Packer, who leaves behind his day job as a health and safety officer at Screwfix in order to roam around the West Country in his 4x4, offering assistance to those in need.

"We were busy during the snow, helping to deliver meals on wheels to elderly people in the Filton area of Bristol, transporting district nurses around Bristol and the surrounding area, and taking other carers to elderly householders across the region."

The team also helped to transport prison officers across Dartmoor, doctors across Somerset, and even transport ambulance service staff to their ambulances.

"We also acted as support vehicles for the police at road traffic collisions, and we helped to pull a lot of trapped motorists out of the snow, using our specialist winching equipment."

The unit normally receives about 12 "stand-bys" each year, of which just three or four develop into full call-outs, so the weeks of call-outs caused by the heavy snow stretched the 4x4 enthusiasts like never before.

"It was a real challenge, but we were delighted to be able to do our bit," says Bob.

"It helps to raise the profile of 4x4s," he adds. "They often get a bad reputation, and are attacked for being un-green, or for being school run vehicles. But we're able to show that actually 4x4 vehicles are an essential part of rural communities, and our recent work in the snow goes to prove that point."

The last time the team was similarly challenged was in the epic floods of the summer of 2007.

"We were busy then, delivering water, food and hygiene packs to cut-off villages, and even assisting with the evacuation of some members of the public to emergency shelters.

"We always try to send out two 4x4 vehicles to work in tandem – so there's always someone there to rescue the rescuers, should anything go wrong with one of our cars. Because they're often working in rural areas that don't have good mobile phone signals, most of the cars are kitted out with radios, which the teams can use to communicate with each other, with me in the control centre, and with other emergency vehicles in the vicinity," Bob says.

All the team members also kit their cars out with flashing lights, snow shovels, specialist jacks and winches.

"Often we're not carrying more than the normal road user should carry during times of adverse weather conditions," Bob explains.

"But we have the 4x4 vehicles that allow us greater access to areas that might otherwise be inaccessible to normal cars, and we have the experience of using them."

John adds: "You hear of some 4x4 owners who only ever use their car's two-wheel drive function, because they don't know how to drive properly in four-wheel drive mode.

"This seems a bit ridiculous to me. I've always been of the mindset that if you've got the 4x4 capability, you might as well learn how to use it properly."

Though not necessarily "advanced drivers", Bob says all the volunteers are experienced drivers with at least three years behind the wheel. Members of the group also regularly take part in civil emergency exercises, organised by the local authority-led Civil Contingency Units. "I don't like to think of us as amateurs," Bob says with a shrug. "I'd rather we were called unpaid professionals."

Bob says the group is always looking for more volunteers: "And you don't need to be a 4x4 driver or own a 4x4 in order to volunteer.

"You could be a fundraiser or be able to offer the group a specialism – such as someone with a financial background who could act as one of the trustees of the charity."

The group is also keen to encourage donations: "All this equipment costs money," Bob says. "So we're always grateful when people are able to make a donation. But most of our funding comes from events we organise ourselves throughout the year."

For the moment, though, with their lunch hour reaching its end, it's time for Bob and John to turn off their flashing lights, park up the 4x4s, and return to the Screwfix warehouse for the afternoon.

"But I think it's good for people to know that we're here to help whenever we're needed," Bob says.

For more information about the Wessex 4X4 Response team, visit the website at www.wessex4x4response.org.uk or call 07092 870604 (evenings).