A petition opposing the feared closure of ambulance facilities has been launched by a Surrey MP amid concerns about the future of four stations in the Waverley and Blackwater area.

South East Coast Ambulance (SECAMB) is “reviewing its estate” for Surrey and Hampshire after securing a site for a new centre in Farnborough.

Sites in Haslemere, Godalming, Tongham and Guildford are among those under scrutiny as the Trust seeks to “determine where the response posts would be best located in the towns to meet patient demand”.

The service has stressed vehicles will remain positioned according to demand under a new system designed to improve “delivery of care for patients” across the region.

But the proposals have raised alarm bells with Guildford MP, Zoe Franklin, and West Surrey Council leader, Cllr Paul Follows, with the pair outlining their reservations in an open letter to SECAMB.

And the former has also launched a ‘Save our Ambulance Stations’ petition through the Guildford and Waverley Liberal Democrats, as she fears the two boroughs could be left without a single permanent station nearby.

“West Surrey is not a compact urban area,” wrote the MP.

“Moving ambulance bases further away from people who need them risks longer waits, and longer waits cost lives.

“SECAMB’s own website admits it expects some impact on its performance while new Make Ready centres bed in.

“We support investment in cleaner, better-equipped ambulances. But that investment must not come at the cost of local emergency cover for patients in Godalming, Haslemere, Guildford and Tongham and the wider West Surrey community.”

“We are concerned both by the substance of these proposals and by the fact that neither of us was briefed before they entered the public domain,” added Zoe and Cllr Follows in the open letter to SECAMB.

“Given the significance of these changes to emergency services across West Surrey, we would have expected direct engagement with local representatives before announcements were made through the media.”

The pair also asked SECAMB to confirm whether the Haslemere, Tongham, Godalming and Guildford stations are being considered for closure, disposal, relocation or redevelopment, and what local ambulance infrastructure would remain after reorganisation.

The Farnborough facility will be a “Make Ready Centre” where ambulances are cleaned, restocked and prepared before being deployed to response posts.

Some £24.8million in funding from NHS England has been earmarked for the project with an application soon to be submitted to Rushmoor Borough Council.

It’s also worth noting that ambulances are often “on the road” and are rarely stationary, while Jeremy Hunt MP, whose Godalming and Ash constituency also includes Tongham, says he’s received some welcome assurances from SECAMB’S interim managing director.

Mr Hunt said: “They have reassured me that ambulances will not be responding to emergencies from Farnborough but will continue to operate from local community response posts.

“Importantly, they have confirmed that no existing ambulance station will close until a suitable alternative response post is operational, with the intention of maintaining local ambulance coverage.”

Additional reporting by Paul Ferguson.