RYEDALE is playing its own vital part in the mission to rescue the 118 crew on board the stricken Russian submarine at the bottom of the Barents Sea.

Kirkbymoorside-based Perry Slingsby Systems is the manufacturer of the LR5 specialist underwater rescue craft, which has been dispatched to the scene by the Ministry of Defence.

A Russian cargo plane carried the craft and a crew of British experts to Norway en route to the submarine's position, but the LR5 is not expected to arrive there until Saturday.

The craft can operate in bad weather and at extreme angles, while with a crew of two, it can carry ten people per dive to the surface.

The Kirkbymoorside firm, more commonly known as Slingsby Engineering, began to trade under the name Perry Slingsby Systems after it was taken over by Cloflexip Stena Offshore, in June.

It is regarded as a world leader in robotics and submarine technology and employs 110 people at its Kirkbymoorside plant.