Hampshire's under-fire ambulance chiefs have decided controversial plans to merge the service with another county should be scrapped.

After a series of highly-charged public meetings across the county, bosses of the 999 service will now recommend the merger proposals are axed. The decision was revealed at a meeting of the trust's board yesterday.

Ambulance service chief executive Richard Mawson said members of the public had expressed numerous concerns about the proposals to merge with Surrey.

"Questions we have had in relation to the option have been very much why Hampshire with Surrey? What benefits are expected to be delivered for patients as a result of the merger?" he said.

The Hampshire service has come under fire after failing to meet national targets for response times and a report by union bosses said the service was in "crisis" caused by "a lack of resources, compounded by poor management over the years".

The unions, Unison and the Transport and General Workers, may hold a formal ballot later this year to press for better conditions to combat "mounting dissatisfaction among ambulance staff".

Following the criticism it was revealed two weeks ago that £1.8 million is to be ploughed into the Hampshire service to help bring it up to scratch. The money will be used to recruit more staff on the road and in the call centre.

But in a letter to the North and Mid Hampshire Health Authority about the merger proposals, which will be passed on to the Regional Office, the trust board said it would not benefit people in the county.

The letter said: "While the trust strives to attain 75 per cent of category A calls and maintain that standard we will be asked to divert valuable resources from this time consuming and all demanding task to carry out the administrative reorganisation with Surrey.

"The reorganisation, we were told, will not see benefits for three to five years. We therefore believe the merger is ill-timed and not in the interests of our patients."

The letter said how the new organisation was to be funded was not clear and questioned whether, with all the changes currently going on within the health service now was the right time to alter the structure of the ambulance service.

It continued: "During the course of the public meetings and Community Health Council feedback it is also clear that the Hampshire public and Community Health Councils are opposed to the proposed merger.

"For these reasons we believe that the proposals are not in the interests of the citizens of Hampshire."