Crew say a big thank you and goodbye to town residents (From Ledbury Reporter)

Crew say a big thank you and goodbye to town residents

10:30am Saturday 31st March 2012 in News

LEDBURY’S ambulance union representative has thanked residents for their support as the Bye Street station prepares to close its doors for the last time on Sunday.

The changes form part of West Midlands Ambulance Service’s Make Ready scheme and will see the town’s double-crewed ambulance begin the day at a new hub in Hereford.

Andy Kibble, an emergency advanced technician and Unison branch secretary for Ledbury, said: “This weekend is the final nail in the coffin for Ledbury’s ambulance station. I would like to say thank you to all the Ledbury people and the surrounding villages for all their support. I hope that if we dealt with any of their loved ones that we dealt with them in a professional way.

“It’s now for the public to judge the success of this new scheme after everybody brought to the fore some of the problems that may be incurred.”

The town will continue to receive 24/7 cover, through the use of rapid response paramedic cars with staff based at the police station in Worcester Road.

It cost £19,000 a year to run the Ledbury station at the time of closing, while using the police station is expected to cost between £3, 000 and £5,000. The premises in Bye Street is up for sale with an asking price of about £115,000.