A mountain rescue team left shocked by the theft of its generator, has received two offers to pay for a new one.

The generator, worth about £2,500, was taken from Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team's trailer when they were fundraising at the Dalemain Marmalade Festival near Penrith last weekend.

Nigel Harding, fundraising officer, said: “We’d had a busy day at the festival on Saturday and had been hosting a toast sculpturing activity, as well as meeting visitors and talking about the work of mountain rescue.

"The generator was stored with other vehicles and displays but thieves had obviously been sussing us out and realised that our generator was relatively mobile and potentially valuable.

"Fortunately, very little damage was done to the trailer itself but the generator is still a big piece of kit to lose and one that, like everything in Patterdale MRT, had been bought with donations from our amazing supporters."

Jacquie Freeborn, chair of trustees, said: "Our invitation to the Marmalade Festival was much appreciated and we were having a lot of fun hosting the toast sculpturing.

"We couldn’t run the toasters on Sunday without the generator which was a shame, but we still raised nearly £250 in donations over the weekend as well as meeting lots of potential new supporters and visitors to the area.

"It’s just a shame that a great event that brings so much good publicity to the Ullswater area also attracted, on this occasion, people who were out for their own benefit."

Patterdale MRT are keen to recover the generator and Mr Harding said they were reluctant to spend supporters' funds on a new one until that option was ruled out.

Just days after posting about the incident on Facebook however, Patterdale MRT received two offers from people who said they wanted to pay for a new generator.

The team posted on Facebook: "Thank you. Your kind words and actions are greatly appreciated. We will be in touch formally but would like say that we're overwhelmed by your generosity."

Police are investigating the incident.