THE sale of Kidderminster’s current ambulance station is “further chipping away” at the health service in Wyre Forest, according to a Worcestershire county councillor.

Labour’s Mumshad Ahmed has expressed concerns at West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s (WMAS) “make ready” scheme.

The trust will put the Stourport Road station on the market, replacing it with three new community stations in Kidderminster and one in Stourport.

Vehicle maintenance would take place in Worcester and Bromsgrove, where ambulances would be cleaned and prepared for crews.

Mr Ahmed said not enough ambulances would cover Wyre Forest under the plan but the trust said it would enhance frontline services in the district.

“It is a downturn, a cut to the service,” Mr Ahmed added.

“How will we cope if crews have to take ambulances back to Worcester or Bromsgrove? I call on the Kidderminster Hospital Alliance team to start an alliance to save the ambulance service.”

Alliance spokesman Stephen Brown said the group had to concentrate its efforts on the hospital but he did have some concerns at the “centralisation”

of the ambulance service.

A WMAS spokesman explained: “The number of ambulances serving Wyre Forest will not change. They will start and finish their shifts in Worcester or Bromsgrove.

“There will be ambulances around Kidderminster anyway and they will respond, depending on where they are at the time.”

Former Wyre Forest MP, Dr Richard Taylor, said the scheme needed to plan for any downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital.

“If this goes through and there are major changes to the hospital service, have the ambulance service been given adequate detail to know whether they can cope?”

he added.

The WMAS spokesman said: “I’m sure we would cope. [The joint services review] has sought views from us and we will work with whatever we have, as we always have done.”