St John discovers its headquarters for sale.

The 6.91 acre High House Farm site, which backs on to Thorne Crescent, includes the headquarters of the movement's Bexhill Division.

If a sale goes through the hunt could be on for new headquarters. This means finding garages for its ambulance, its 4x4 ambulance and its emergency trailer.

For Bexhill volunteers, who had not been advised that the site was being offered for sale, the move has come as a shock even though it had been on the cards for some time.

Attempts by the division in recent years to find headquarters less remote from the town centre have been unsuccessful.

Tub Collins, Chief Executive Officer for St John in East Sussex, assured the Observer this week that there was no question of selling the site without having first secured satisfactory new premises for the unit.

All the division's meetings are held at the headquarters, which is also its training base, workshop and equipment store.

Sale of the site has been placed in the hands of the Tunbridge Wells office of estate agents Batcheller and Thacker.

The commercial section of the firm's website says: "The site has been owned and run on a part-commercial basis by St John Ambulance for many years as a base for branches from across the south east to attend for rallies and functions. Alongside this use the site has been available to the general public with many returning year on year."

Elaine Kelly, Superintendent of Bexhill Division, said news of the advertisement had come as a shock and she had received no response from county headquarters to her enquiries.

She said she began seeking answers from St John at county level three weeks ago..

She said this week: "I still haven't been told officially that the site is on the market. They haven't responded to my questions. There has been no communication.

"If they can find a new place for us, that's great, especially if it is somewhere we can get our youngsters in because we can't do that at the camp-site.

"We have spent ages looking for an alternative for ourselves over the years and there is nowhere else that is suitable.

"It is not fair to my members, who put in lots of time, if when they ask me I have to say I don't know what is happening. I don't know what is going on."

For some time the division has felt the need to move to headquarters that were more central. Camp-site and headquarters are approached via a long, unlit, farm track.

Bexhill Division lost is Badger group '“ St John's most junior members '“ because there was no suitable meeting place for them in the town.

In answer to Observer questions, Mr Collins said there had been a lack of communication on the subject with the Bexhill unit. He said members of the unit had raised this and it had exposed a "communication-link failure" which the organisation would work to eliminate in the future.

"The decision to sell was taken by Sussex SJA's Property Committee. The essential reason for the sale of the site is to comply with National HQ policy, Sussex SJA's sustainability and 'business appropriateness'.

" The site has traditionally made a loss, and we cannot shoulder such a financial drain any longer. It is increasingly under '“ used by SJA itself, and indeed is increasingly only used by unrelated caravan groups.

" The sale will inevitably include the current Bexhill Unit premises too; however, the chair of our property committee has already directed several estate agents and the like to scout-out potential replacement premises.

"We anticipate that these will be in an location more suited to sustaining and growing the Unit's numbers, and in particular that of younger people.

"There is no question of selling the site without having secured satisfactory relocation for the Unit."

Asked why if the site traditionally made a loss potential buyers were being advised by the agents that it made a 21,644 profit last year, Mr Collins said: "I cannot immediately comment on the figures presented, though I have to assume their veracity.

"I think this may be because last year it did actually buck previous trends and turn-in a surplus.

"However, the combined effect over several years has been a loss, and, as far as I can gather, for it to continue doing so requires a level of managerial attention, marketing and development which is neither concomitant with our charitable focus nor presently affordable."

The president of Bexhill Division, John Watson, said of the sale board at the site: "It was a bit of a shock.

"We have not been told officially.

"I cannot see why they are going to get rid of it at all.

"I don't really know who the owner is. It was bought by the Order of St John (the movement's national body) from Mr Message in November 1947 for 700."