Ambulances arrive in Ukraine after 1,200-mile trip

Sara Homer from the Brackmills Business Improvement District took the ambulance to Ukraine

Two ambulances loaded with aid from the UK have arrived in Ukraine.

They were handed over at the Polish/Ukrainian border after a 1,200-mile (1,931km) drive from Northampton.

The vehicles contained stretchers and medical supplies, as well as food and clothes donated by businesses on the Brackmills Industrial estate in the town.

Sara Homer, chief executive of the Brackmills Business Improvement District, made the trip and said the handover was a "weird surreal moment that I'll never forget".

One of the ambulances suffered a puncture but was fixed by a local garage

The vehicles, obtained by John Sheriff at Goodwill Solutions, left on Friday April 28 and were taken into Ukraine on Monday at the border city of Medyka, in south-eastern Poland.

The first vehicle was collected by soldiers from the Azov battalion of the Ukrainian Army.

They told the team they were very grateful for the donation and were "hugging us constantly", Ms Homer said.

One of the ambulances got a puncture in Poland but a passing breakdown crew came to the rescue and escorted the stricken vehicle to a rural repair shop.

The second ambulance is being taken by aid workers in Ukraine to the city of Sumy near the Russian border.

The ambulances crossed into Ukraine at the border with Poland at Medyka