PLANS to close Whitefield Ambulance Station must not be "rubber-stamped", say Prestwich councillors.

Holyrood's three Liberal Democrat representatives are demanding that they are informed when a consultation document on the proposed closure is issued, and are told how long they and the public will have to put forward their views.

The station, located at Greater Manchester Ambulances Service's (GMAS) Whitefield HQ in Bury Old Road, was originally due to close before the millennium but the proposals have been put on hold.

It was thought that the emergency service would operate from Bury while GMAS would move to a centre at Salford Quays. However, the plan has been shelved and the threat of closure lifted until the year 2000.

The main issue surrounding the closure is where the emergency ambulance normally stationed at Whitefield would be relocated. It is feared that if the ambulance is taken away, Prestwich, Whitefield, Radcliffe and the busy M60 junction would be left without immediate cover. Councillor Wilf Clegg has "grave concerns" about the scheme.

He said. "If the ambulance is moved to Bury or Bolton, which has been suggested, it would be valuable minutes lost and lives lost. It has also been suggested placing ambulances at strategic points but we would not be in favour of that either.

He added: "We are going to put in a submission when the consultation starts. We want to put our views forward and do not want the consultation to pass us by and it to be rubber-stamped."

Mr John Williams, director of GMAS human resources, confirmed closure was still on the cards as part of a move to centralise ambulance control, NHS direct service and financial and IT support services.

He said: "The proposal has been put on hold but in the long-term there is a requirement for GMAS to centralise."

GMAS is drawing up public consultation documents but he stressed that it was the responsibility of Bury and Rochdale Health Authority to circulate them locally.

"I have written to Coun Clegg explaining the consultation process in detail. It will take a bit more time to find other suitable premises and we will go through the consultation and meet everyone and everybody we have to," Mr Williams said.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.