PLANS to scrap Oxfordshire Ambulance Trust look like going ahead in the face of strong local opposition.

A major consultation exercise on whether Oxfordshire should join a new super ambulance trust showed little enthusiasm for the merger plan. And with a senior figure appointed to oversee the reorganisation of the local ambulance service, the whole consultation exercise has been condemned as a sham.

The Government is shortly expected to decide whether Oxfordshire Ambulance Trust should merge with trusts in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire and Bucking- hamshire.

But the former Oxford Lord Mayor John Power said the whole consultation had been shown to be a costly but meaningless exercise.

Mr Power, who had served as a non-executive director of the county ambulance trust for seven years, said: "They effectively appointed a new chief executive of the merged trust before the consultation was completed. Interviews for a new chairman have also been held.

"It's a disgrace. The figures show a majority of people in Oxfordshire and Hampshire do not want to be part of this merged trust. What is the point of this costly consultation if a decision has been made?"

The consultation figures show that only seven out of 57 town and parish councils supported the merger. All four MPs taking part opposed it.

But Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority provoked further anger by claiming the consultation showed 53 per cent of those taking part backed the merger plan. Opponents point out this was achieved by dividing the opposition votes into distinct categories 'does not support proposal' and 'supports no change'. A third category 'supports something different' was then excluded from the anti-merger total.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority, Kevin McNamara, said all the figures and comments from the consultation would be passed on to the Government.

He said William Hancock, the chief executive of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, had not been taken on as chief executive of a new merged trust. He had in fact been appointed as "transition lead" to ensure that if the merger did go ahead plans would be well advanced.