Proposals to move an air ambulance base away from mid Wales’ “health desert” is a “risk we cannot afford”, Llanidloes Mayor Jamie Jones has said.

Llanidloes Town Council was told that the Wales Air Ambulance Charity will “regret it and funding will cease from this area” if they face a backlash from Powys residents and fundraisers.

“I don’t see the point of them moving away,” said Councillor Alan Bennett. “The thing is it’s publicly funded, and you’ll be amazed how much money is raised in mid Wales and the Welshpool base is probably self-funded by local donations alone. We are suitably positioned and it’s a ridiculous situation.”

The Wales Air Ambulance Charity said its proposal to close the Welshpool base would help it to run more life-saving missions, creating the capacity for an additional 583 missions across Wales each year.

Concerns were also raised at the town council meeting about road ambulance response times in the area with a nearby road being voted one of the most dangerous roads in Britain.

Councillor Eleanor Leguay said: “At an accident last month, a girl was cut out and she had to wait three hours for an ambulance. Her boyfriend had to take her to hospital. It was shocking. To take a vital resource, I strongly oppose it.”

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Last month Powys County Council met with trustees from the Wales Air Ambulance Charity to discuss the proposal.

Llanidloes county councillor Gareth Morgan said the council was told that the proposed closure was not for financial reasons.

“We’ve been down these roads before and when it come to the crunch we’re in trouble. It’s not likely to happen immediately, it will take a couple of years.

“What we wanted was assurances and we wanted them to discuss it throughout the county with a proper consultation. We have to press them to hold them to that promise. The chair of trustees seemed to be an amiable customer and gave an impression we could do business with him.

“We were assured it wasn’t for financial reasons. The amount of money is significant from this part of the world. They’re actually in surplus of cash.”

A Llanidloes mum of a baby boy with the blood condition Haemophilia type A said she would consider leaving Powys if the Wales Air Ambulance Charity closes its Welshpool base. Bryony Coles said that the increased response time if the base closes could force the family to move away from their Llanidloes home. The Wales Air Ambulance has said a full consultation would be carried out before any such move, and that it is using "world-leading" analysis to drive its decisions on its future.