There are fears lives will be "put at risk" after it was revealed just one ambulance will soon be covering the whole of Helston and the Lizard Peninsula.

The Helston Packet has learnt that following a cost-cutting review by the South Western Ambulance Service, from June this year there will no longer be a rapid response car based out of the ambulance station at Helston Community Hospital.

As a result, a single ambulance is all that will be directly responsible for covering an area that spans all the way to Lizard Point and across to the Helford River, as well as Helston itself with a population of more than 11,000 residents.

Sharing his concerns with his fellow members of Helston Town Council, Tim Grattan-Kane said he believed the ambulance car would be relocated to Redruth, adding: “This is due to start in June, a period of peak demand unfortunately.

“Is there anything we can do to review this very short-sighted decision?”

Cornwall councillor Andrew Wallis urged the council to write to the chief executive officer of the South Western Ambulance Service with their concerns, saying he had already sought clarification on the plans and questioned why they had not already been shared with councillors and the community.

Mr Wallis, a former coastguard who said he was well aware how long it could take to get around in the busy summer months, even with a blue flashing light, added: “People forget how big the Lizard Peninsula is in area.

“If we are to have a car from Penzance, or Camborne or further afield that will unfortunately put people’s lives at risk.”

However, a spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust said the changes were part of a wider review of rotas that looked to increase the number of ambulances available in the area as a whole.

The spokesperson said: "With these changes there will be an increase in resources across the West Cornwall area as a whole, including increases in the total workforce numbers.

"As part of the rota review, it is planned that Helston will continue to operate a double-crewed ambulance, 24 hours a day, however the current rapid response vehicle will be converted into a double crewed ambulance."

They did not confirm, however, where this second ambulance would be based.

"This rota review and associated re-positioning and increasing of resources and staff hours is intended to improve response times within the Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group area, including Helston and the surrounding villages, and we anticipate this equates to 147 improved and more appropriate time-critical responses and 17,000 better and more appropriate responses for serious patient groups, over a 12 month period," the spokesperson added.

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