A DOCTOR credited as the pioneer of the paramedic service has died in hospital after a short illness.

Kenneth Easton, 76, was a GP in Catterick Village, North Yorkshire, in the days before the dual carriageway was built to the west of the community. As a result, he was often called to accidents on what was then the Great North Road.

As they became more frequent, he realised he could not cope alone, and the county's first Road Accident After Care Scheme was founded, with fellow GPs joining a rota to offer treatment at the scene.

The idea caught on elsewhere in the country, and the result was the British Association of Immediate Care (Basic), set up in 1977 - a service which eventually developed into the modern paramedic service, which has saved thousands of lives.

Dr Easton, a married man with five children, was awarded the OBE for his work establishing the Basic network, which he also promoted as far afield as Australia and America.

He said another episode in his life haunted him so deeply he sometimes found sleep difficult.

Dr Easton was one of 97 doctors flown to Belsen to treat survivors in the Nazi concentration camp - and the images of the Holocaust still haunted him 50 years later.

He died at The Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, on Thursday.

A private funeral service is planned for later this week, although all who knew Dr Easton are welcome to attend a memorial service at St Anne's Church, Catterick Village, at 3pm on Thursday