GP health commissioners have announced plans to change the way ambulance services are delivered in parts of County Durham in a bid to boost 999 response times.

The Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group is proposing to bring in an extra rapid response vehicle to serve the Durham Dales as part of measures to increase investment in the area as a whole.

But a separate proposal to change the way that ambulance crews serving the Durham Dales are staffed could re-ignite opposition in Weardale and Teesdale.

Between 2006 and 2008 a series of public meetings in the Durham Dales gave NHS officials a rough ride over proposals to change ambulance services.

The wrangling ended when the then County Durham Primary Care Trust agreed to a new package of measures designed to improve ambulance cover in the Durham Dales.

As part of these measures, worth an additional £600,000 per annum, the Durham Dales saw an increased number of ambulances and paramedics operating in the area.

But with the proportion of response calls to critical emergencies in the Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield (DDES) area within eight minutes still stuck at 63 per cent - well under the national target of 75 per cent - GP commissioners have called a series of public meetings to discuss proposed changes.

Plans include a proposal that ambulance vehicles in the Durham Dales should be staffed by one instead of two paramedics, accompanied by an emergency care assistant.

The CCG said this will free up a second paramedic to crew more vehicles across the patch.

A spokesman said: “This level of crew deployment will bring the Durham Dales area in line with the rest of the North-East .”

But a spokeswoman for the Rural Ambulance Group for Weardale and Teesdale said: "We do not support the proposals to change the skill mix of ambulance crews in Durham Dales. We need to stand united to protect our local ambulance service.”

GP commissioners said they want to protect the current ring-fenced investment in the Durham Dales for the next two years, which has now grown to £650,000.

They also plan to invest in more First Responders, local people and firefighters who are trained in basic life-saving skills and on increasing non-urgent transport for patients.

Public meetings will be held at Sedgefield Parish Hall (September 2, 5.30pm-7.30pm), St John’s Chapel Town Hall (September 8, 6pm-7.30pm), The Glebe Centre in Murton (September 11, 3.30pm-5pm and at Middleton-in-Teesdale Village Hall (September 15, 6pm-7.30pm).