Anger from campaigners and councillors over plans to turn a Shoebury ambulance station into a ‘response post’ has forced decision makers to go back to the drawing board and rethink.

Representatives from the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) confirmed on Monday night that they would not close the Shoebury ambulance station until after they had re-examined the viability of the plan and held a detailed consultation.

It comes after a series of protests led by Save Southend NHS and the submission of a petition which had garnered more than 2,000 signatures. Residents and campaigners fear the closure will cost lives for the sake of cost cutting and achieving response targets.

At Monday’s meeting representatives from EEAST explained the change was heavily based on the results of “data modelling” using computer software and said it is part of a wider plan to save money by having ambulances be based at a central hub on Aviation Way in Southend.

But following local opposition, EEAST chief executive Dorothy Hosein said it was her commitment that “we will not be removing anything” until after her team had undertaken “remodelling” through a computer system and a full consultation has been undertaken.

She was unable to confirm a time-scale for the consultation but promised an update would be given to the council in March.

The chief executive was also forced to admit the service needed to learn from what had happened after they attempted to close the station in November last year before the council intervened and demanded an explanation.

The strongest criticisms came from Conservative leader Councillor Tony Cox, who is not a member of the committee but spoke at the meeting.

He said: “The only reason we got to hear about this was because of a whistle-blower, a whistle-blower in the ambulance service who said what is being proposed is unsafe.

“So when that was questioned it, we were told Shoebury ambulance station is not closing, great everyone thought, services are being retained, nothing wrong let’s carry on.

“The whistle-blower then came back and said the key is in the question. You asked if the ambulance station is going to close, well its not technically going to close, it is not going to have shutters put up at the windows. The changes will still go ahead.

“When it was probed further, we were told yes the changes are going to go ahead.

“If we look at the here and now, not where we might be in 10 or 15 years, the fact that we now have to go to full consultation, and I appreciate you are going to go back to remodelling, but if there was going to be no change, why would you need to look at the modelling?

“There are fundamental questions that need to be resolved because if it wasn’t for the likes of myself putting in a motion about this it would have been implemented by now. We can’t forget that. It would have been nothing to see here, move along but clearly that is not the case.”