THE co-ordinator of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal has quit in protest at the recruitment of a paid chairman.

Melanie Gee, 45, who worked tirelessly for two years to raise the profile of the appeal, left her post on Tuesday after saying it was morally wrong for the Great Western Ambulance Service to put a chairman on the payroll.

GWAS is the sole trustee of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal and is seeking a paid chairman of the appeal, which would be the first salaried chairman in its 17-year history.

The chairman would work for 30 days a year and receive a salary of £6,005 or £200 a day.

GWAS communications manager John Oliver said a paid chairman was needed to move the appeal to an independent charity and this was a more demanding and time consuming role than that of chairman of other air ambulances.

GWAS has now said for the first time that the money for the chairman’s salary would come out of its funds and not the appeal’s.

Ms Gee said she was unaware of the plans to pay a chairman from the GWAS “pot.”

She said: “I would still have resigned had I known GWAS were to pay the salary as it isn’t necessary to pay a chairman.

“No other air ambulances have a paid chairman.

“I feel it is morally wrong for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal to have a paid chairman.

“I think there are many people out there who support the air ambulance appeal and would do the job for free. I had to take a stand for what I believe is right.”

In the two years that Ms Gee was the appeal’s co-ordinator its income rose from £721,179 to £987,077. She was on a salary of £21,000, and for this she was in charge of the appeal website, the administration, press releases, fund-raising and giving talks to groups.

The Air Ambulance Appeal is dependent upon public support to raise the £500,000 a year to keep the service flying.

This is only a third of the running costs of the helicopter. The remaining two thirds are funded by the police, who use it for various incidents.

There was no answer on the Air Ambulance Appeal hotline when the Adver called on a number of occasions.