A FLYING doctor scheme that brings emergency cases to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton could be asked to move.

At a meeting of Northallerton Town Council last week, members complained about the lack of a permanent helicopter landing area at the Friarage for the North Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Speaking from the public gallery, Coun John Coulson said nobody wished to see the service discontinued but to see it enhanced.

He said the helicopters were becoming more frequent and were landing all over Bullamoor Memorial Park, owned by the town council, and that other emergency services such as police and the fire brigade were having difficulty getting to the landing points.

Nearby residents were all supporters of the Friarage but were concerned over health and safety issues, he said, and asked if a fenced area could be created.

He said the landings had become an event and that during the half-term school holiday had attracted crowds of youngsters, which could be dangerous.

At the meeting last Monday, Coun Rob Kennedy asked why the redevelopment of the Friarage proposed by South Tees NHS Trust could not include an American-style helipad on its roof.

Mayor Sally Anderson said the issue of landings had been raised before with the Friarage but the council would mention it again.

Coun Dobson said that the hospital had previously promised to remove concrete bollards blocking the park entrance on Bullamoor Road to give emergency services better access and this still had not been done.