Ambulance gets stuck on railway crossing

Workers had to push the ambulance over the railway crossing at Melton

Maintenance workers helped push an ambulance over a railway crossing after it got stuck while responding to an emergency in Suffolk.

Level crossings in Melton and Ufford have been closed to motorists since Friday, while major upgrades were made to train lines between Westerfield and Halesworth.

Network Rail assured residents that emergency services vehicles would still be permitted access.

But on Sunday, workers were filmed having to give an ambulance "a little extra push" after it briefly became stuck while attempting to drive over the Melton crossing. The East of England Ambulance Service said it still managed to "reach the patient well within our target response time".

Network Rail said it was "working to make sure blue light vehicles can safely get across the Melton level crossing" while the improvement works are carried out.

"The footage taken by a member of the public shows our team enacting the emergency procedure as planned by quickly putting down the rubber covering, which protects the tracks but allows the vehicle to get across," a spokesperson said.

"The ambulance needed a little extra push to get it across, but our team acted brilliantly and swiftly to make sure everyone could get on their way within seconds."

The ambulance had to wait for a minute before it could attempt to drive over the crossing

Robert Needs captured footage of the incident and said: "The workers all rushed back to the crossing from the other end of the platform to level the ballast and make a way across."

He added: "It did work, but in a rather haphazard way."

Pieces of rubber were used on the tracks to help emergency services vehicles get from one side to the other

While Network Rail initially said emergency services vehicles would be given access, it said a 24-hour diversion had been put in place to allow Tarmac to set.

It explained that Emergency vehicle drivers needed to embark on a 10-minute diversion to Ufford Crossing during this time.

"We've agreed with the emergency services that the diversion to Ufford is just for a 24-hour period, effectively while the Tarmac sets," a Network Rail spokesperson said.

"It would be impossible to allow vehicles over during this time, but we're committed to maintaining access across the railway for emergency vehicles."

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "One of our ambulances experienced a short delay at the Melton railway crossing while responding to an emergency call. Despite this delay, the ambulance was able to reach the patient well within our target response time.

"We continue to work with Network Rail and other partners to ensure there is appropriate emergency healthcare cover at all times during this work."