OVER 1,000 people have signed a petition opposing the removal of an ambulance from a border town.

As previously reported by The Journal, the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) is reviewing cover across the region.

As part of that review, it is proposing to remove an ambulance which operates at Berwick upon Tweed for 12 hours a day. The town would still have one 24-hour vehicle and the service is proposing to base two ambulances at Alnwick to cover non-emergency incidents in North Northumberland.

However, MP Sir Alan Beith and people in his Berwick constituency are fighting the removal of the 12-hour vehicle. Sir Alan set up a petition which has now attracted over 1,000 signatures. The MP met the chairman of NEAS on Friday to hand over the names collected so far.

Sir Alan said: “I made it absolutely clear to the NEAS that Berwick, because it is so far from the hospitals to which patients are usually taken, needs two emergency ambulances.

“The emergency ambulance is often away for two or three hours when taking patients to hospital and it will not be possible to provide adequate cover with only one emergency ambulance.

“I stressed how important it is for senior managers to come to Berwick and listen to the views of the public before going ahead with any of the proposed changes which affect Berwick.”