North Norfolk Labour group campaigns against ambulance cuts

More than 1,000 people have signed a petition to stop proposed cuts to the ambulance service in north Norfolk, the Labour Party has said.

The Act on Ambulances campaign was set up by the party in July over concerns two full-time ambulances could be removed in Cromer and North Walsham.

North Norfolk Labour Party said the changes could worsen response times.

The East of England Ambulance Service said services were being matched to demand and not being cut overall.

Labour Party spokesman Jono Read said: "The Care Quality Commission [CQC] has told the ambulance service the response times have to improve, but the reality is that they cannot improve when government cuts will mean fewer vehicles stationed here."

'Redress the balance'

In May, CQC said the ambulance service had "not met some of its key performance targets in relation to response times", but had taken "satisfactory measures to address the shortfalls".

The East of England Ambulance Service said in Cromer one of its two full-time ambulances would become part-time and North Walsham would get a rapid response vehicle instead of its ambulance.

The service said: "The trust has to save £50m over the next five years so needs to better match resources to demand.

"Present rota patterns do not do this, leaving some areas and times under-resourced and others over-resourced.

"The revisions aim to redress this balance to ensure we can continue to deliver a good, safe service for patients."

Labour said it would be campaigning against the cuts in North Walsham on Saturday.