Mid Wales vehicles for 999 calls 'not in use'

A new fleet of Land Rovers bought as emergency ambulances to reach remote villages in Mid Wales this winter are sitting "gathering dust", a worker claimed today.

The worker, who did not wish to be named, said the Wales Ambulance Service purchased a new fleet last year at a cost of "hundreds of thousands" to ensure they could get to villages safely in the event of bad weather.

The worker claimed 12 months down the line, none of the vehicles were being used for front-line emergency service.

He claimed the service was instead still relying on a nine-year-old vehicle that was so unreliable it had to be left running at the scene of an incident or it would not start once turned off.

But a spokesman for the Wales Ambulance Service said half of the fleet had been deployed in Central and West Wales as rapid response vehicles.

He did admit, however, that the other six were still waiting for the trust's livery to be put on them before being brought into use.

The spokesman for Wales Ambulance Service said these vehicles "are still to have the trust's livery put on them and this will be done in due course".