Following the sad read in the June 23 Gazette about the withdrawal of first-aid response vehicles in Dartmouth, I am concerned that I did raise this in the early part of this year and was hit by accusations of ­listening to Chinese whispers and scaremongering, when the reality is I was right at the start.

My concerns as to the future are shared by those active in the provision of first response who have suffered the indignity of reapplying for their own jobs, with some having served many years of giving sterling service.

Comments that it was all done and dusted before it was made public concerns me. That the fire service was given over a long period of time advanced training in first-aid response to cover any shortfalls suggests to me that my early warnings were not fiction, but factual.

My argument is plain and simple: our wonderful community in Dartmouth is in ­suspended animation with the transition of a health and well-being centre at River View, and I fully support this 100 per cent. But it is the interim service that concerns me, namely the withdrawal of a first-aid response vehicle, in a community area that is remote and in the winter months cut off.

Someone within this area will pay the price of passing over to the other side because there was no immediate response to save them, and if it is me, I will come back and haunt those who have decided that balancing the books takes preference to saving lives.

Cllr Stephen Smith

Britannia Avenue

Dartmouth