A RE-ORGANISATION of ambulance services should benefit Herefordshire people, the new boss has claimed.

A new division will serve Herefordshire and its neighbouring counties from the beginning of this month.

The new Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire division will manage these mainly rural areas and cater for their special needs.

The reconfiguration has evolved after Hereford and Worcester Ambulance Service merged with Birmingham, the Black Country and Shropshire, and Coventry and Warwick Ambulance Services, to become one West Midlands Ambulance Service in July 2006.

Leading the newly formed division will be Derek Laird, the locality director for Hereford and Worcester.

"Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire are very similar counties in terms of geography, industry, agriculture, population and culture," Mr Laird said.

"The problems encountered in provincial towns and cities, in rural areas, and on rural roads are quite different to those problems experienced in inner cities and urban areas.