Kent, Surrey and Sussex air ambulance cancels move

Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance is run by a charitable trust

The South East's air ambulance is to continue flying from its current bases in Surrey and Kent, reversing a previous decision to relocate.

Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Trust (KSSAAT) said it will stay at Redhill Aerodrome.

It has withdrawn a planning application to develop a new hangar at Old Hay Airfield near Paddock Wood in Kent.

The trust said it had been offered a large hangar at Redhill for its two helicopters.

KSSAAT submitted its application in December 2015 but was approached by Redhill Aerodrome in February to take over Hangar 10 after the company occupying it decided to move out.

The air ambulance will share the hangar with Specialist Aviation Services (SAS), which maintained its helicopters.

SAS currently carries out all heavy maintenance at Gloucestershire Airport.

"Our helicopters will continue to deploy routinely from both Marden and Redhill, and the night service will continue as normal from Redhill," said KSSAAT chief executive Adrian Bell.

"Despite the use of relief helicopters and having field engineers in the area to support our operation, there has always been some resultant down time.

"Having SAS at Redhill will allow for a resident engineer on site with immediate access to spares and other technical support."