Police have been thanked for their swift action after an ambulance responding to a 999 call had vital equipment stolen from it.

The theft happened when a CIPHER paramedic crew suporting the North East Ambulance Service were attending an emergency call in Cleveland in the early hours of Sunday November 6.

Whilst at the call, the vehicle had items stolen from it essential to the paramedics' ability to respond to medical emergencies.

Cleveland Police issued an appeal and the NEAS said it was grateful to the people who contacted the service directly and provided the identification of the criminal, which was promptly passed onto the police.

The Northern Echo: The theft happened when a CIPHER paramedic crew suporting the North East Ambulance Service were attending an emergency call The theft happened when a CIPHER paramedic crew suporting the North East Ambulance Service were attending an emergency call (Image: CIPHER)

The thief has now received a custodial sentence as the theft impacted the CIPHER's response times for more than a week until replacement equipment was installed.

Andy Thomas, CIPHER Medical’s CEO and consultant paramedic said “I am extremely grateful to the police and our community who helped bring this individual swiftly to justice.

“Although the essential items were not recovered, we urgently sourced replacements and I’m pleased to say that vehicle is again providing lifesaving support to the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and our community.

The Northern Echo: CCTV captured the thief stealing from the ambulanceCCTV captured the thief stealing from the ambulance (Image: CIPHER)

“All our vehicles are fitted with CCTV and will be used in cases of theft or violence against our crews.

"Our crews work tirelessly 24/7 to support the community along with our exceptionally hard-working NHS colleagues.

"We feel they should be able to carry out their duty without the fear of theft or indeed in some cases violence.

“We shall leave no stone unturned in providing support to the police in bringing anyone to justice should offences occur against our teams, our NHS colleagues, or our staff.”

A spokesman added: "Due to the diligent work of the police and our internal logistics team we had this vehicle back up and running in seven days allowing us to maintain our 999 support and are grateful to the team at NEAS in assisting with replacing some of this essential equipment.

"As an organisation we always prioritise our wide range of services in our support to the NHS and we are glad we can continue to do so."

The Northern Echo: CCTV captured the thief stealing from the ambulanceCCTV captured the thief stealing from the ambulance (Image: CIPHER)

The Northern Echo: CCTV captured the thief stealing from the ambulanceCCTV captured the thief stealing from the ambulance (Image: CIPHER)

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