PARAMEDICS are reeling today after vandals smashed up the dashboard of an ambulance in an attempt to steal its satellite navigation system.The crew were attending a call to an elderly lady who had fallen and when they came out of her house discovered pieces of the ambulance laying all over the road.

PARAMEDICS are reeling today after vandals smashed up the dashboard of an ambulance in an attempt to steal its satellite navigation system.

The crew were attending a call to an elderly lady who had fallen and when they came out of her house discovered pieces of the ambulance laying all over the road.

The incident happened between 8.30pm and 9pm.

Craig Gill, clinical field operations manager at Ipswich ambulance station, said: “Fortunately, the patient did not need to be taken to hospital but if she had needed urgent treatment we would not have been able to deliver it.

“I think the crews were just completely stunned when they realised what had happened.

“We had to get someone to come and recover the vehicle because all of the electrics had been destroyed.

“It will now be off the road until it has been fixed and we will have to use one of our older vehicles in its place.”

The damaged vehicle is now in the garages at Ipswich ambulance station awaiting repair.

Mr Gill said it is too early to know how much this will cost the ambulance trust.

He said: “They managed to recover all the different pieces from the road but it has completely destroyed the electrics.”

Matthew Ware, spokesman for the East Anglian Ambulance Trust, said: “Anyone that would damage an ambulance that was at the scene of an emergency call is complete and utter scum.

“How did they know it would not be needed to transport a seriously ill person to hospital?

“It could have led to a delay in getting another ambulance to the scene which could have proved fatal.

“It's not just an issue of criminal damage it's an issue of messing about with people's lives. I hope they are found and given a prison sentence.”

A spokesman for Suffolk police said: “We received a call at around 9.15pm to an ambulance where the dashboard had been extensively damaged.

“Part of the satellite navigation system had been ripped out and was later recovered.

“Obviously, an ambulance is a very high profile vehicle and it happened at a time when there may well have been people around.

“If anyone saw anybody acting suspiciously around the ambulance we would urge them to call us on 01473 613500.”

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