AMBULANCE stations across the region could be moved or merged so the service can meet new rapid response times demanded by the Government.

The proposed shake-up is revealed in a draft consultation document drawn up by the North-East Ambulance Service NHS Trust and sent by County Durham Health Authority to local authorities and health groups.

New regulations require 75 per cent of urgent calls to be met within eight minutes. At the moment, the service only meets 43 per cent. Under the proposals, Crook ambulance station, near Bishop Auckland, could be relocated to a more modern station in Willington. Fishburn station could be moved to the Ferryhill area and Seaham could be merged with Ryhope, near Sunderland.

The report also suggested looking into closing sites at Newton Aycliffe and Bishop Auckland and replacing them with new ones. But Steve Whinfield, director of operations at the North East Ambulance Service, said there were no immediate plans to move the two stations.

"A lot of the region's ambulance stations are not in the right place. Originally they were built on cheap land. Crook and Willington are only about three miles apart but from the proposed site we can get to areas more quickly."

The trust also recommends starting about 20 first responder schemes, which involves equipping and training people in the community to resuscitate patients while they wait for an ambulance.

But an ambulance source, who did not wish to be named, said he was concerned the document did not place greater emphasis on first responders. "They said they intend to get 20 schemes across the whole of the North East. That's insufficient. It was only mentioned in one line of the document, but it's a vital, vital part.

"To meet the eight-minute response times you would need a defibrillator every quarter of a mile."

Chairman of Northern and Yorkshire Region Community Health Councils Alan Hartley said plans to relocate stations were "the way forward."

He added: "An ambulance station is more or less somewhere to park your ambulance overnight.

"The use of stand-by points, where you put ambulances in strategic positions, has proved to be more successful.