Steve Jetley said he has received 500 emails of support in three days

Steve Jetley met the health minister Ben Bradshaw and presented him with 500 emails and a 16,000 signature petition on Wednesday.

After the meeting he said that while Mr Bradshaw was willing to listen he offered nothing constructive.

The minister had told him he could not intervene in local services, he said.

Faster response

"I naively believed that a minister would take responsibility for things. This is the man who is responsible for ambulances and whilst he was prepared to listen to me there was really nothing that constructive," said Mr Jetley.

He added that Mr Bradshaw had given him contact details for a number of people that he could speak to.

Mr Jetley claims lives will be put at risk if the plan goes ahead as local area knowledge will be lost.

The ambulance trust has denied this saying the move would speed-up response times as it can get more out of staff and resources at larger centres.

Mr Jetley resigned after being suspended by the trust for allegedly leaking documents to the BBC.