WILTSHIRE might lose its police helicopter entirely if the Great Western Ambulance Service pulls out of the 18-year joint initiative with the Wiltshire Constabulary.

Chief Constable Brian Moore warned he will not cut police officers to fund the £500,000 gap left should the ambulance service pull out of its deal.

Although the trust is not planning to end its partnership for two years, Mr Moore said that its contract for the aircraft expires in December and, unless he finds a reliable partner for at least a five-year contract, he is prepared to pull the plug.

He said: "We are still in negotiations with the trust but if we can't find another partner and no other funding stream is available to me, I would have no alternative but to lose the helicopter service.

"It would be a significant loss to us. The helicopter has a capability we have no other means of matching. It has helped arrest 300 suspects this year alone and taken part in 15 high-speed chases that could otherwise have put members of the public and my police officers at risk."

The joint venture between the police and the ambulance service has been running since 1990 and has been credited with saving countless lives.

Wiltshire Police Authority covers 75 per cent of the cost of the helicopter and the ambulance trust 25 per cent. Although the bulk of call-outs are medical, they are relatively short in duration compared with police emergencies, which often involve widespread searches for missing people.

Police observer PC Adrian Wells said the Wiltshire helicopter has many advantages over other similar services elsewhere in the country.

He said: "It has the same medical kit as you would find in a road ambulance and it is one of only two air ambulances in the country where a defibrillator can be used in flight.

"It is also one of the few helicopters that can fly after dark and, because it has no tail rotor, it is one of the safest helicopters in the country. The proposed stand-alone air ambulance will not be able to fly at night - when a third of emergencies take place."

Paramedic Richard Miller said he and his colleagues have been left in limbo by the ambulance trust as no one had come down to the air support unit in Devizes to explain the situation.

He said: "We all have long-term careers and we don't know what's happening. We have been told that someone will come and explain the situation to us, but no date has been given.

"The need for an air ambulance in Wiltshire has been proved time and again.

There have been cases when we have gone looking for a missing person and found them in collapsed in a field. Having a paramedic on the spot has saved lives."

Between January and December 2007 the helicopter found 15 missing people, located 14 vehicles, was involved in 95 arrests and assisted in another 96. It recovered property worth £75,000, and searched an area of 13,212 square kilometres.

It has carried 366 patients to hospital and 167 of its 665 medical emergencies were at night.