Mountain rescuers have voiced their frustration after two rolls of fencing were stolen while they were attempting to update their headquarters.

Brecon Mountain Rescue Team had been carrying out work to extend the parking area at the base - which is based near Brecon - when two 50 metre rolls of metal fencing were taken from outside the headquarters.

Volunteer and hill member Jan Roberts said: “We were just doing some maintenance on the base to make it easier to park for our volunteers.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to park so we were undertaking some clearance of the grounds and moving the fencing.

“It was two rolls of 50m length stock fencing which arrived on Thursday afternoon and on Friday afternoon it had disappeared.”

The team posted to Facebook on the same day it was taken - Friday, August 8 - in the hope the thief would return the fencing which is estimated to be to the value of around £100 - they have not reported it to police at the time of writing.

Ms Roberts said: “It’s frustrating. We’re a group of volunteers and we depend on fundraising for things like our equipment and the base and we don’t want to waste any money.

“It was just at the guys were finishing off at the base. We haven’t reported it to police because were hoping someone would return it.

“It’s probably gone by now but the only thing we’d hope for is that somebody else would donate more of it.

“I think it’s also frustrating because the time was put aside to do the maintenance and then it couldn’t be completed.

“We’d just prefer for it to be returned or for a donation rather than reporting it.”

The Brecon Mountain Rescue Team is available for callouts via the 999 emergency phone number - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and they are always happy to help when they get the signal that their assistance is needed.

The voluntary team, which consists of a mix of working and retired members, has around 55 hill members as well as other volunteers who handle things such as fundraising, dispatch, driving the support vehicles as well as liaising with police in missing person cases.

Despite the global Covid-19 pandemic, it has still been a busy summer for the team who have attended seven callouts alone in the last two weeks - since Tuesday, July 27 - including two missing persons and “a lot” of ankle injuries”.

Ms Roberts said: “We don’t ever want to shame people or to put off getting in touch, but we do try to encourage people to wear appropriate footwear. “

Only days before the fencing was stolen - on Thursday, August 5 - the team cancelled their training to attend a call out after a woman had sustained a “nasty ankle injury”.

Posting to Facebook, the group had to carry the woman from the Cwm Iwch area to a waiting ambulance.

The post said: “Wednesday night training cancelled again due to a call in the Cwm Iwch area to a lady who slipped and sustained a nasty ankle injury.

The woman was treated by the team by one of their casualty carers and the team doctor before she was “carefully packaged and stretchered” off to the ambulance waiting in the carpark.

The team said in their Facebook post: “Special thank you to a group of people who stayed with the lady and provided much comfort and care until we arrived. We wish the lady a very quick recovery.”

The team relies on fundraising from the public - especially after the last 18 months when they have not been able to host their usual fundraising events.

“The need for mountain rescue has continued during the pandemic, but Covid restrictions have led to the cancellation of all of the team’s outdoor fundraising events, so Brecon Mountain Rescue has suffered a serious loss of income.

“Each call out costs an average of £550; with around 100 callouts per year, the annual running cost of the team is £55,000.00.”

To support Brecon Mountain Rescue Team, you can donate money via their Just Giving page by clicking here.