Ambulance service gets 44 new vehicles in £6.7m upgrade

More than £6.5m is to be spent on 44 new ambulances for the Welsh Ambulance Service.

Health Minister Mark Drakeford said the investment would allow the service to buy 35 standard ambulances and six non-emergency patient transport vehicles to replace older models.

He said it would help cut running costs and reduce the number of vehicles needing repairs and maintenance.

The service has more than 700 vehicles covering Wales.

Mr Drakeford said: "The demands on our ambulance service grow every year and we are determined to invest in the service to deliver the best service to patients."

Last month the service again fell short of its response time target for life-threatening calls, with 61.7% of so-called Category A calls arriving within eight minutes.