GREAT Western Ambulance Service has made a dramatic U-turn after deciding to restore ambulance cover in Dursley 24 hours a day.

It comes after the Gazette reported in July that GWAS had cut ambulance crews in Dursley between the hours of 2am and 10am.

Fears had been raised that lengthier waiting times for ambulances could put lives in jeopardy.

The ambulance trust says it is responding to public demands to provide better emergency care in the area.

Steve West, director of operations at GWAS said: "We highly value public and staff involvement in development of our services and as a result of public and staff comments, we have reviewed our cover for Dursley.

"Both 24 hour ambulance and ECP (emergency care practitioner) cover will be maintained. This is firmly in line with our strategy of right care, right place, right time.

"We have already started recruiting and training more clinical staff - paramedics and ECPs."

GWAS also plans to recruit more staff to support paramedics, such as emergency care assistants, who can drive ambulances, more control room staff and specialist staff to concentrate on cleaning and re-stocking vehicles.

"We are exploring more opportunities for crews to work alongside other local primary care professionals, such as GPs, for example; and we plan to better match our response to caller need, so that more resources are available for patients in immediately life threatening emergencies, which need an eight minute response," said Mr West.

Christina Westmorland, who was featured in the Gazette last week, was seriously affected by the cutbacks when she waited for an hour, barely able to breathe, to be taken from her home in Dursley to Frenchay Hospital.

She said the news was "absolutely wonderful".

"I was worried before because the doctors said the same thing could happen to me again and I was scared an ambulance wouldn't get to me in time, but now I won't be so worried. It's great news," she said.

Cllr Brian Marsh, of Dursley Town Council, said: "Thank goodness they have changed their minds. I was disgusted with everything that has happened.

"A member of my family called an ambulance at 2am and it took 25 minutes to get here from Gloucester.

"There are over 20,000 people in this area and we need 24 hour ambulance cover. The people who made the cutbacks were risking people's lives. This is excellent news for the area."