The Yorkshire Ambulance Service says it has chosen the Territorial Army centre site, in Coldyhill Lane, in a bid to improve its North Scarborough response time.

However, families living nearby fear the move could devalue their homes and worsen a noise problem.

In a letter to Scarborough Council's planning service, John and Apollonia Bland, of Coldyhill Lane, said: "We are totally and strongly opposed to this proposition. We are afraid that having an ambulance station operating 24/7 at this location would massively devalue our property and we would have serious difficulty selling it.

"Also, the TA barracks square is very noisy as a result of being built for army purposes. Any noise, be it engines starting up, opening and closing of garage doors or people just talking, gets amplified greatly."

Mr and Mrs Bland claimed the issue had been dealt in a "sneaky and underhand way" by limiting the number of residents actually informed of the plans.

Only three houses had been notified by Dacres Commercial, working on behalf of the ambulance service.

Mrs Bland said: "The other thing I am most concerned about is once the Yorkshire Ambulance Service has their foot in, are we going to get all the ambulances based here? Because you can't turn it back, can you? "

Neighbour Sylvia Armstrong, 68, described the barracks as an "ampitheatre" and added: "Every noise is amplified. To have ambulances driving in and out during the night is going to be horrendous.

"I can't understand why they would want to put the station here. There is a hospital in Green Lane which has ample parking. We feel we are going to get railroaded into accepting it because, due to a letter only being sent to three houses, we haven't got a cat in hell's chance."

A spokesman for Scarborough Council confirmed that it had received a planning application on behalf of the ambulance service.

Nick Read, Area Planning Manager (Rural and South), said that, once the applicants had provided the additional information required, the local authority would notify adjoining residents and post a site notice.

Anyone wishing to comment would have 21 days to do so.

A spokeswoman from Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) NHS Trust said it was "disappointed" to hear that some residents had concerns. She said: "We would be happy to speak to them about the issues they have raised if they would like to contact us directly."

The spokeswoman added: "We would like to reassure local residents that emergency staff are trained in the reasonable use of visual and audible warning devices whilst attending emergency calls.