LIVES are being put at risk by the closure of an access road for ambulances at one of the region's busiest hospitals, unions have claimed.

Ambulance drivers arrived at the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City, on Monday, to find that hospital bosses had shut a congestion-busting route around the site.

Ray McDermott, branch secretary of Unison, the union that represents the drivers, said: "This is causing a massive problem - it is creating absolute havoc.

"We now have to turn ambulances around to get them back out. If we are answering an emergency call, a delay like this can be the difference between someone living and dying.

"This is all because of closing a link road that was installed to alleviate ambulance access problems when the hospital was first built."

Without the link road, an ambulance travelling from one side of the hospital to the other now has to leave the grounds and drive three-quarters of a mile around to the other entrance.

"There are a lot of pedestrians using this area, putting them in a possible accident situation, as emergency vehicles are forced to turn around in response to an emergency call," said Mr McDermott.

At the same time, hospital bosses have also moved the drop-off point for outpatients from outside the building to 100 yards away, at the bottom of a slope.

"If our patient is in a wheelchair, we now have to push them up an incline for 100 yards in freezing conditions," said Mr McDermott. "It is no good at all for a lot of the patients, who are elderly."

Last month at the hospital, a traffic warden issued a £25 parking ticket to an ambulance driver for parking on double yellow lines, as he helped patients on board.

A spokesman for County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospital NHS Trust denied that the closure of the route was affecting emergency call response times.

"To say that patients' lives are being put at risk is nonsense," he said.

"A new facility is being built at our hospital which will improve local access to vital care for heart patients.

"While this work is being carried out, access for routine patient transport to outpatient areas will be affected.

"The trust has worked hard with the ambulance service to come up with the best solution for temporary access."