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

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."

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.

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

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."