That's a fair point, but surely if you are airlifted, it doesn't really make any difference whether you fly to Fort William, Inverness or Glasgow in terms of time. In Yorkshire for example, the RAF rescue helecopter is based in Hull but serves the Pennines which are miles away, but it still arrives within minutes. If you are not deemed critical enough to be airlifted it is more than likely that you will survive the journey by land. It is an inconvienience but I would be really suprised if the powers that be haven't already thought about it. After all, it is probably cheaper to air lift more people than keep a unit running 24 / 7?

I was unfortunate to fall in the Coe and was very fortunate to be airlifted to Fort William. If Glasgow or Inverness were my accident and emergency port of call I would not be here now. If they close Belford and the seriously injured have to go to Glasgow or Inverness people like us just aint going to make it.

Signed the petition. Three of my friends have all had the misfortune to rely on the Belford's emergency services, all after climbing accidents. None of the injuries were life-threatening, but one of them may not be walking today if it weren't for the rapid intervention that the Belford were able to make.

I sent my own letter in months ago, when Davy Gunn first posted the news. I thought the issue had now been resolved. When I asked on here a couple of weeks ago about the proposals re A & E at Belford, one of the locals said that they'd had 6,000 letters of objection and a public meeting attended by 2000 to protest against it, so the health trust had kicked the idea into touch. So has it or hasn't it?