THE Archbishop of York has blessed a £2 million state-of-the-art ambulance base for York.

Dr John Sentamu officially opened the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust station at Yearsley Bridge, yesterday.

After conducting the opening ceremony, the archbishop joined staff and patients to celebrate the new centre.

Dr Sentamu said: “For most church people when they see an ambulance go past they pray for the crew, the paramedics, sometimes nurses and the patients that they get there and they get there safely.

“This ambulance station is fantastic for Yorkshire.”

The station has moved from the city centre to north-east York to enable ambulance crews to respond to 999 calls in and around the city more swiftly.

It is close to York Hospital, and positioned to complement the existing ambulance station in Haxby and the service’s stand-by points in Hull Road and in Acomb.

As well as housing four emergency ambulances, six rapid-response vehicles, 11 patient transport vehicles and more than 80 staff, the station has a range of training facilities. Vince Larvin, the trust’s assistance director of A&E operations for North Yorkshire, said: “We worked closely with staff throughout the move and they expressed their desire for a more modern base that had better access to various parts of York.

“The facility is a clinically clean and hygienic environment with all mod-cons, including a new training room and a larger rest area.

“Over the years York has changed and demand for our service is vastly different to what it was when we were first at the city centre station.

“The new base will allow us to provide a more responsive service that is tailored to the current needs of our patients.”