Campaign groups fighting a decision to close Wales Air Ambulance bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon have launched a bid to have the decision overturned.

In a statement the ‘Save Welshpool Air Ambulance Base’ and ‘Save Caernarfon Air Ambulance’ campaign groups confirmed that an application for judicial review has been issued at the High Court.

“The application challenges the lawfulness of the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee’s (JCC) decision to adopt recommendations which would see changes to the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS), including the permanent closure of Air Ambulance bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon,” the statement said.

“We were not prepared to accept the decision reached, and campaign teams in Mid and North Wales have been working together, along with others, and law firm Watkins and Gunn.

“The claim has been brought by a local resident (referred to as the Claimant).

“The Claimant is asking the court to quash the JCC’s decision to adopt the recommendations, as well as to grant an injunction prohibiting the Defendant health boards from taking steps to implement the recommendations.

“As campaign groups, we know how the public, Health Boards, and clinicians in Mid and North Wales did not support the decision to close the Welshpool and Caernarfon bases.

“We believe that the work of the air ambulance in Mid and North Wales is vital in providing life-saving emergency treatment and ensuring rapid response times into emergency care.

“We continue to believe that swathes of Mid and North Wales will receive slower response times from the Wales Air Ambulance Service, and at times won't receive a timely critical care response at all if the proposed changes take place.

“We also continue to call on the Welsh Government to intervene and ensure both bases remain in operation.

The decision to close the bases and relocate them on one site in Denbighshire was made in April despite vehement opposition.

Montgomeryshire MS Russell George said: “The impact of this decision was hugely disappointing for us in mid Wales.

“The reconfiguration of Air Ambulance Critical Care services in Wales, from a point before any of us had heard of the proposal to close the bases, has been a process filled with bias, misinformation, and misdirection.

“A Judicial Review would allow a judge to re-evaluate the decision-making process and I believe it would bring much needed transparency and objectivity and examine to what extent the process delivered a predetermined outcome.’’