THE mayor of Holsworthy has expressed his sadness at the loss of a South West co-responder service.

Cllr Jon Hutchings said the news of the withdrawal of funding for the service, which sees firefighters trained to co-respond to fire and medical calls was ‘sad’ adding: “A sad day for Holsworthy. I will be asking the council to make a representation for the town and our local fire co responders. The service they give our town in my opinion is unreplaceable.”

A spokesperson for South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: "In recent years we have been developing and strengthening our Community First Responder (CFR) volunteering model and this development means we will be phasing out the Fire Co-Responder role.

"CFRs receive an enhanced level of clinical training to help them respond to patients. CFRs can, with clinical support from the trust, administer pain relief and discharge patients at scene.

"The cost comparator between a fire co-responder and a SWASFT community first responder is significant, so as part of our responsibility to provide the best possible care to patients, while meeting national expectations for efficiency and value for money, we are investing into increasing volunteers across the South West.

"As part of the transition, we have invited fire co-responders to train to become CFRs."