Police chief hits out at national air service plan

Meredydd Hughes said the city was treated "very poorly" by proposals to slash by a third the number of police helicopters and air bases in England and Wales.

The plans, unveiled yesterday by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), would leave Sheffield relying on helicopters based near Leeds and Bradford to the north and Nottingham and Derby to the south.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance is also reviewing its service and considering whether to close its Sheffield base to run both its helicopters from Leeds.

Mr Hughes said there was "no doubt" that police helicopter response times would be too slow and "far below the standard of today".

"I have consistently supported the creation of a national police air service since the proposal was first discussed," he said.

"Unfortunately, the plan as presented does not provide an adequate service to one of Britain's biggest cities, and treats Sheffield very poorly by comparison with Leeds, Bradford, Hull or Manchester."

If police authorities back the plans, the number of police air bases would be cut from 30 to 20 and the helicopter fleet would be reduced from 33 to 23.

Rather than each force having its own helicopter, the new national service would be responsible for the whole of England and Wales and be operated from a central command centre.

Three spare helicopters would remain on standby and the oldest of the current fleet would be sold off.

Acpo claimed the changes would provide a more effective, "joined-up" and "borderless" air service, while shaving 15m a year off the air support budget.

But Mr Hughes said: "The report hides the deficiencies of the proposed service within generalised response times to the force as a whole, but it is the areas of highest crime; densest population; and major sports stadia which receive the poorest service.

"I welcome the discussions to review the service offered, but am concerned that the people of Sheffield may be asked to pay more than other areas to receive a similar service level.

"This would be unfair, and would not be well received locally."

Hampshire's chief constable Alex Marshall, who is to become the head of the new service, said the changes would not affect the current national response rate, which sees 97 per cent of the population reached within 20 minutes.

"This is not merely a cost-saving exercise," he added.

"While the current service is capable of doing its day job, artificial boundaries have meant that helicopters are restricted to operating within their own force area.

"A national, borderless service will ensure effective coverage of urban and rural areas."

Yorkshire Air Ambulance's board of trustees are to decide by the end of the month whether to close one of its bases.

At present the service, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this week, has a helicopter based at Leeds Bradford Airport and another flying from Sheffield Business Park.

A spokesman for the service refused to speculate yesterday on reports that the Sheffield base may be shut.

"The Yorkshire Air Ambulance are currently undertaking a strategic review of their operations and the most cost-effective use of its resources," the spokesman added.

"Included in this is a review of the geographical placing of both the helicopters to best suit the needs of all the people in Yorkshire."