A CONSULTATION on the future of the Bransford emergency operations centre has been described as a "whitewash."

At a meeting by Ambulance Chiefs on Tuesday, it was revealed that 240 respondents support the closure of Bransford and Shrewsbury's call centres with services centralised at Brierley Hill and Stafford with a support centre at Leamington Spa.

It states 65 are against the plans.

This is despite a petition against the plans, containing 2,092 names, being presented to the trust.

At the meeting of the trust's board in Redditch, chairman Sir Graham Meldrum said it was because people who sign petitions do not give detailed reasons for their concerns.

Liz Kabani, senior call taker and UNISON representative for Bransford, said the analysis of responses had been, in some cases, "inaccurate and misleading".

She added: "The Trust has given inadequate analysis of our alternative proposal and other comments from the public, has failed to provide adequate costing for their proposal and has ridden roughshod over public opinion in Worcestershire, which clearly wants to see Bransford retained.

"Reactions from local councils, Primary Care Trusts and individuals from across the region have shown that there is as much resistance to the Trust's proposal as support for it.

"We urge the Trust's Board, once more, to heed these calls and start a new consultation with a range of options so that we can find a better way to manage ambulance cover in the West Midlands."

Richard Burt, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Health in the West Midlands and Parliamentary Candidate for West Worcestershire, agreed.

He said: "The consultation has proven to be nothing more than a whitewash.

"People in Worcestershire are fearful that they will receive a second class service if the emergency control is transferred to the Black Country, and I have heard nothing to change my mind."