Harriett Baldwin spoke today of her sadness about the imminent closure of the Hereford and Worcester ambulance call centre at Bransford, decided at a meeting almost exactly a year ago today, in spite of widespread objections.

All local ambulance 999 calls will now go through to a call centre at Brierley Hill in the Black Country, Stafford or Leamington Spa.

Harriett Baldwin explained, "The West Midlands Ambulance Trust Board and Chief Executive Anthony Marsh know that many local politicians will be continuing to hold them to account for the speed of response in Worcestershire. We will be watching ambulance performance closely. We will be monitoring response times for Worcestershire as well as the availability of ambulances resources serving rural areas. So far performance is holding up well, with all response times exceeding their targets.

I have requested a visit to Brierley Hill in the New Year to see the new systems and to meet with staff affected."