More West Midlands ambulance stations to be put up for sale

Five more ambulance stations in the Black Country are to be sold as crews move to new premises.

West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust said the traditional ambulance stations would be replaced with community stations, some of which are shared with other emergency services.

The stations to be sold are Park Lane, Tettenhall and Penn in Wolverhampton and two in Bilston and West Bromwich.

Five stations put on the market by the trust in January are still for sale.

'Maintenance hubs'

The trust said the buildings were on sale for between £80,000 and £235,000.

The move to community ambulance stations follows a model successfully pioneered by Staffordshire Ambulance Service more than 10 years ago, the trust said.

They said crews would spend less "down time" cleaning and restocking and would pick their ambulances up from one of two maintenance hubs which will prepare, service and maintain the fleet.

The trust said the money saved would be channelled into "frontline ambulance provision".

Ambulance unions have said they are "working very closely with the service" to mitigate any problems around working practices for the staff involved.

Five stations in Wombourne, Stourbridge, Oldbury, Halesowen, and Cradley Heath were put up for sale by the trust in January.