Opening date announced for new ambulance station for Preston and South Ribble

The temporary ambulance hub in Lostock Hall is taking shape.

The base, on land previously occupied by Lunar Caravans in Lostock Hall, will be housed in a series of modular buildings for up to three years while a permanent headquarters is being constructed alongside.

Many of the inter-connected portable units are already in place on the site off Sherdley Road.

Contractors are scheduled to complete the installation by mid-September, inside the deadline set for the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) to vacate the base it currently shares with the city's fire brigade.

The temporary hub is made up of portable cabins linked together.

New ambulance centre to be built in Lostock Hall after paramedics given notice ...

Both 999 services have lived together at the station in Blackpool Road, Deepdale for the past eight years since NWAS took refuge there when its base in Deepdale Road was declared unfit for purpose.

A spokesman for NWAS said: " All is on schedule and the trust needs to leave Preston Fire Station by the end of September.

"We are expected to migrate to the new site around the 19th/20th of the month and will be operational straight away."

The station-sharing agreement, which has been in force since March 2014, expires on September 30 because Lancashire Fire and Rescue wants to redevelop its Preston base.

NWAS is building a new home to accommodate 23 vehicles and up to 37 staff. It bought the former caravan storage site earlier this year.

South Ribble Council gave planning permission for the temporary HQ for up to three years to allow time to construct a full-time station on the same plot of land.

Explaining the decision not to renew the lease at the Blackpool Road depot, a fire brigade spokesperson said the service "has plans to develop the facilities on Blackpool Road and move some of our non-operational teams to the site.

"To facilitate these improvements and cost efficiencies, the service needs the space that North West Ambulance Service currently utilises and as such the lease will not be renewed.

"In 2020 Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and North West Ambulance Service extended the agreement for sharing facilities at Preston Fire Station until 30 September 2022.

"Prior to this agreement, the service consulted with North West Ambulance Service on their future plans and they confirmed that a joint fire and ambulance station on this site did not fit with their strategy."