Dorset ambulance on emergency call blocked by police car

Pictures have emerged of an ambulance on an emergency call struggling to get down a street because it was blocked by a police car parked on double yellow lines.  

Despite there being two empty spaces in a designated parking area on the other side of a narrow high street, the officer left his patrol car on double yellow lines opposite. 

The police car was parked there for about 20 minutes in Swanage, Dorset, during which time the ambulance needed to get through to take a casualty to hospital. 

It meant one of the paramedics had to get out of the vehicle and guide the driver through the tight gap between the police car and the vehicles on the opposite side of the road yesterday afternoon. 

Pictures have emerged of an ambulance on an emergency call struggling to get down a street because it was blocked by an illegally parked police car

Robin Brasher, who witnessed the incident in Swanage, said the ambulance was held up for between one to two minutes. 

Mr Brasher, 67, a retired civil servant, took a photo of the parked police car as local residents have made repeated complains about motorists damaging the stone pavement.

He said: ‘Not long after I took the first picture I heard the siren of the ambulance which then suddenly stopped outside my house.

‘The ambulance was heading out of Swanage so it was probably taking somebody to Poole Hospital.

‘I guessed what had happened and I knew the ambulance would have a job to get through the gap.

‘The cab was narrower than the rear of the ambulance and clearly the driver wasn’t sure if it would squeeze through.

‘Somebody guided her and then it went on its way. It was held up for a minute or two.

‘I have lived here for 20 years and it has always been an issue of motorists parking on the kerb and damaging the pavement.

‘We have complained about it to the police before but they tell us it is a matter for the local council.

‘I know police cars are allowed to park on double yellow lines but there were two empty spaces on the other side of the street the police officer could have used without blocking an emergency vehicle.’

The incident happened at 3.30pm yesterday.

A spokesman for the South Western Ambulance Service Trust refused to comment on the matter.

A Dorset Police spokesman told MailOnline: ‘The officers responded to a 999 call relating to an assault at an address in the High Street in Swanage. 

‘The incident was graded as a highest priority incident based on an assessment of immediate threat, risk and harm. 

‘The priority for the officers was to give immediate assistance to a victim and therefore get to the scene as quickly as possible. In these situations they are allowed to park on double yellow lines. 

‘During the incident an arrest was made, however, after the subsequent investigation the person has been released without charge.’

Earlier this month paramedics in Birmingham trying to save a man's life were shocked to find this note on the windscreen of their ambulance telling them to park somewhere else

Earlier this month paramedics in Birmingham trying to save a man’s life were shocked to find this note on the windscreen of their ambulance telling them to park somewhere else

The latest incident comes after teaching assistant Hassan Shabbir was lambasted earlier this month for leaving who left a moaning note on an ambulance telling it not to ‘block his driveway’ while paramedics treated a patient who later died.

Mr Shabbir, 27, said his behaviour was ‘appalling’ and admitted he was ‘disgusted with himself’ after he penned the angry note on the ambulance’s windscreen in Birmingham.

It read: ‘You may be saving lives, but don’t park your van in a stupid place and block my drive.’

The note went viral after a photograph of it was posted on Twitter by paramedic Tasha Starkey who attended the scene.

The ambulance had been forced to double park outside a drugs rehab centre as it had no other option and paramedics battled for an hour and a half to save him.

But the 42-year-old resident passed away after being rushed to hospital with ‘massive internal bleeding’. 

 



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