AMBULANCES have been stoned by thugs in two unrelated incidents.

A nurse had to fight to keep the doors of an ambulance shut as a crowd of yobs tried to wrench them open from the outside, to get to an "intoxicated" youth being taken to hospital.

The growing crowd of youths tried to roll over the ambulance, in Queen Street, South Bank, Middlesbrough.

A spokesman for Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service said the youths rocked the ambulance from side to side. The paramedic initially had problems driving from the scene as bricks had been pushed against the tyres. As the ambulance got under way, a brick was hurled, denting the side of the vehicle.

In an earlier incident on Teesside - in Staithes Road, Dormanstown, several miles away from the scene of the ambulance attack - a gang of youths smashed the side window of a paramedic's car as he was attending a suspected heart attack victim.

As he returned to his car, he was surrounded by about 15 youths chanting: "Get the keys off him".

Some tried to break off what glass remained in the shattered window, while others put their arms through the gap, stealing his belongings.

The paramedic, who does not want to be named, said: "They were very provocative. They seemed to be wanting to isolate me."

Service chief executive David Craig said: "We need the support of the public and are entirely with our staff in condemning this unprovoked and totally unlawful assault."