CAMPAIGNERS across Dorset have vowed to fight on for Portland’s Coastguard helicopter despite a government decision to axe it.

Transport secretary Justine Greening has said she will not renew the aircraft’s contract after 2017, telling South Dorset MP Richard Drax the closure “would not increase the risk of life”.

Dorset county coun-cillor Karl Wallace says sponsorship of the heli-copter by a major business and a toll on large shipping and freight in the Channel could offer funding opportunities.

He suggested such firms as wind farm developer Eneco, superyacht builder Sunseeker and petroleum giant BP – which all have interests in Dorset – could be approached.