THE future of Pewsey's Red Cross ambulance depends on its passing an MoT test at the end of July.

The Gazette reported that Pewsey Parish Council's plea for the British Red Cross' Wiltshire Branch to reconsider its decision to withdraw the ambulance had been unsuccessful.

The vehicle's MoT expires at the end of the month and, if it needs substantial work, the county branch has decided it will be taken off the road and not replaced.

Acting county director Mary Platten said: In the spring of 1999 the British Red Cross Society undertook an audit of all its vehicles.

This identified that the vehicle based in Pewsey had travelled in excess of 150,000 miles and was coming close to the end of its useful life. To replace the vehicle would cost around £40,000.

It is therefore very difficult to justify spending £40,000 on an ambulance that may be used only a dozen times where there are other vehicles around the county which can be re-deployed as needed."

The Red Cross has not commented on the apparent discrepancy between a vehicle that has completed 150,000 miles and yet is only expected to be used a dozen times.

Mrs Platten said the Pewsey ambulance was due to undergo a pre-MoT test to establish its roadworthiness and identify any work needed on it.

But in an apparent turn-around, Mrs Platten said: If the costs involved in maintaining its roadworthiness can be justified, the decision to dispose of the vehicle will be deferred."