Gloucestershire to get more ambulances as trust spends £700k

An ambulance service which has been criticised for poor performance in rural Gloucestershire is to spend £700,000 on more vehicles.

The South Western Ambulance Trust expects to have more vehicles on the road by Autumn.

The money will fund an extra 24-hour ambulance for Stroud and Staverton and further rapid response cars.

The leader of Cotswold District Council previously slammed the emergency service as "not fit for purpose".

Last month figures showed fewer than half of 999 response vehicles called out in the Cotswolds reached their destination within a set eight-minute target.

Neil Le Chevelier, director of service delivery for the ambulance trust, said the extra vehicles would improve performance but they were continuing to explore further ways of making improvements.

He added the recruitment of extra staff would take place in September.