A cash-strapped ambulance service is taking taxpayers for a ride by spending £454,000 a year on a fleet of luxury cars for its executives.

Bosses who are presiding over £50million in budget cuts drive round in Jaguars and top of the range 4x4s – motors ­normally associated with ­football stars and their Wags, reports the Sunday People.

One manager at the East of England Ambulance Service is even claimed to have said the ­upmarket vehicle was useful for towing a horse box.

Ambulance boss drives a Toyota Landcruiser (
Image:
Matt Sprake FameFlynet UK)

The perks were slammed as “obscene” yesterday, as the NHS tried to justify the luxury cars by saying those using them could put blue lights on top to get to emergencies.

Details of the extraordinary deal were uncovered by angry ambulance workers who sent a Freedom of Information ­request to their own trust.

(
Image:
Matt Sprake FameFlynet UK)

They discovered the service spent £151,862 on leasing 30 company cars for managers between September 2014 and February last year. Separate figures show it spent £454,636 on 81 cars in the past year.

Cars handed out include a Jaguar XF – which cost £34,000 new, two £44,000 Land Rover Discoveries, and three BMW X3s, which cost £35,000 each.

Ambulance boss drives a Toyota Landcruiser (
Image:
Matt Sprake FameFlynet UK)

An insider at the Ambulance Service, which has its HQ in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, said: “It has caused a lot of anger and fuelled the perception that managers are looking after themselves rather than looking after their staff.

“The public needs to know public money is being spent on managers driving around in high end cars. One manager has been telling everyone she ­needed something bigger to pull her horse box so she got a Toyota Land Cruiser.

Robert Morton, chief executive of the East of England Ambulance Service

“It is quite obscene at a time when frontline staff are having their workload increased.”

Sources said the ambulance service’s £142,200-a-year chief executive, Robert Morton, 52, is set to swap his current Range Rover for a faster Range Rover Sport which costs £60,000 new.

Read more:Ambulance workers could join junior doctors on strikes

Labour shadow health ­minister Justin Madders said: “Patients and para­medics will be alarmed that, with the NHS facing its deepest crisis in a ­generation, senior managers behave like they’re in an ­episode of Top Gear.

Mercedes Benz ambulances of the East Of England ambulance service parked outside hospital accident and emergency department (
Image:
Alamy Stock Photo)

“At the election the Tories promised to invest in frontline services. Judging by these ­reports, they have failed.

“Ministers need to urgently intervene and call on these managers to make a U-turn on their lavish expenses.”

Unions say the ambulance service – which covers Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire – has the worst staff turnover rate in the country. More than 300 frontline staff have quit in the past 12 months.

BMW X3, £35,000

They say staff shortages mean paramedics regularly work 14 to 15 hour shifts instead of the normal 12. One crew recently worked 20 hours.

Official figures show the trust failed to hit NHS performance targets for answering ­emergency calls within eight minutes last month.

The trust says it is dealing with a “significant” rise in 999 calls. Crews got to 55 per cent of serious calls and 48 per cent of second priority emergencies within eight minutes. But the NHS target is 75 per cent.

Range Rover Sport, £60,000

A coroner branded the ­service “chaotic” after three-month-old Bella Hellings died when paramedics took more than three times longer than the target time to reach her home in Thetford, Norfolk, in 2013.

And an ambulance took two hours to get to chef Paul Nelson, 26, who collapsed at home in Blakeney, Norfolk, and later died of a brain haemorrhage.

Land Rover Discovery, £44,000

The staff member said: “Our performance statistics in March are quite horrendous. People are leaving because of pressure of work.

“Frontline staff are struggling to cope. It is exhausting. Directors know that and they don’t appear to be doing ­anything about it. There is a feeling there is a big disconnect between the board and staff.” Dave Prentis, boss of public services union Unisonsaid: “Bosses say they want to save money, yet they can find the cash to lease lots of swanky cars for senior managers.”

Mercedes C 220, £30,000

The East of England service has been dogged by claims about lavish spending in recent years. Three years ago it was ­criticised for spending £247,406 on public relations staff – enough for ten NHS paramedics.

East of England ambulance bosses said lease cars are isssued so officers can work across an area covering 7,500 square miles. Members of staff can choose their model.

A spokesman said: “Ambulance officers’ lease cars are fitted with blue lights and sirens, so that they can respond to ­patients, manage the scene at serious or major incidents or respond in an emergency.

Jaguar XF £34,000

“All new blue light user cars also have 4x4 or all-wheel drive capability. The trust allows a set level of expenditure. Managers can make a contribution for the car of their choice if it is over that level.”

More than 750 student paramedics have been recruited in the past two years and the trust is trying attract a further 300.

Range Rover Evogue £40,000

The spokesman added: “Staff are working extremely hard to provide the best service to patients and the trust is actively addressing staff wellbeing and tackling late finishes.

“The trust has invested significantly in its ambulance fleet and has the most modern ambulance fleet in the country.”

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