HEALTH and First Aid charity St John Ambulance has been granted planning consent for an ambulance station and training centre at Warrington.
The facility is at the former Cerberg Matec storage and distribution unit in Leacroft Road, Birchwood. Up to 11 ambulances will be based at the site, together with 35 staff.
Warrington Borough Council planners have approved the change of use of the site – which is already in use.
St John Ambulance will be delivering the transport services of the North West and North Wales Paediatric Transfer Service and the North West Neonatal Transport Service and Connect North West from the site, as well as continuing to support NHS Ambulance services, including the North West Ambulance Service.
Planners were told the site was crucial to help St John Ambulance teams reach critical care units quickly to deliver critical care to patients.
Ambulances are parked within a compound and warehouse area for charging purposes when not in use. They are used to collect patients and transfer them to hospitals across the region, returning to wash down and replenish consumables.
An essential service, it would be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
There were no objections to the proposals – and given the urgent need for the service, work on the conversion of the buildings started ahead of planning consent being given,
