Public meeting over ambulance station closure to be streamed due to huge demand

There were fears that people would find themselves unable to get a seat at the meeting that will be held on Monday at 7pm at the Wynnstay Hotel, which can hold 120 people.

Oswestry Town Council called the meeting because of significant concerns expressed by residents over the review of Community Ambulance Stations which led to the closure order for four stations in the county. Representatives from West Midlands Ambulance Service will be attending.

The service has said that all four community ambulance stations in Shropshire - Oswestry, Craven Arms, Bridgnorth and Market Drayton - will shut on October 4. After that all ambulances in the county will be based in either Shrewsbury and Telford.

A spokesman for the service said the move is expected to improve response times by not tying up ambulances travelling to and from community stations. They said all staff had been informed and had chosen which hub they wanted to be based at in the future.

“When a crew come on shift at a main hub they get into an ambulance that is washed, cleaned, fuelled and has a standard load list on it. This is not the case for those on a community ambulance station site. When they start, the crew have to check their vehicle to see what is on board. At some point during their shift, they have to drive to the hub to swap over their vehicle for a made ready vehicle."

Oswestry's mayor, Councillor Mark Jones, will chair Monday's meeting. He said it was an opportunity for elected members, community representatives and the public to hear from West Midlands Ambulance Service and also for the service to hear the views of the public.

"There is only space for 120 people in the room and these will be available on a first come basis, with doors open at 6.45pm. We would respectfully ask that everyone wear a face covering.

"Given the level of public interest the meeting will also be broadcast via zoom which can be accessed via the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81061600892. The pass code for the meeting is (386530)."

A petition calling for the closure of the Oswestry base to be halted has reached nearly 2,000 signatures, while one demanding the Market Drayton station be spared the axe is nearing 1,000 signatures.