A TEAM of paramedics could be put on 24-hour standby in Spennymoor if the ambulance service is allowed to move into the town's fire station.

The North East Ambulance Service hopes to use the fire station, in St Andrew's Lane, to improve emergency call response times.

After a trial period of almost three months, ambulance service chiefs say response times to Spennymoor and surrounding villages have improved.

Director of finance Roger French said: "We review the service to offer the best possible care to the public and meet Government guidelines to attend an incident within eight minutes.

"This has been quite difficult in Spennymoor so, working with the primary care trust, we looked at the locations for crews around Sedgefield and found the fire station to be close to optimum.

"The trial has definitely been a positive exercise. Spennymoor is a significant town and we have not had a particularly good presence, but co-location could change that.

"Also, I don't think access to facilities to use the bathroom or make a drink is too much for the crew to ask."

The town is served by full-time crews stationed at Newton Aycliffe, Fishburn and Bishop Auckland, and occasionally crews parked in lay-bys on the outskirts of town.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service will be asked to grant permission to site an ambulance on the forecourt and to allow crews use of station facilities when on standby duties.

A report by Chief Fire Officer George Herbert about the proposal recommends that the Combined Fire Authority for County Durham and Darlington approves the plans on Thursday.

It says: "Spennymoor Fire Station is a retained station and therefore is unoccupied for the vast majority of the time. As such, the occasional occupation of the station by two paramedic staff will not cause any difficulties and has been fully risk assessed.

"Furthermore the co-location of fire/ambulance facilities is in accordance with the whole modernisation agenda, providing better services to the community, and is supported by the retained personnel from Spennymoor itself."

Mr Herbert also said any income from the co-location would be invested in the facilities at Spennymoor, to improve the environment for both staff.