A CONVOY of 50 ambulances bound for Havana has set sail from the region.

In a goodwill gesture, British trade unionists donated the vehicles to help to rebuild the Cuban ambulance service, following the US blockade and the collapse of the Soviet bloc.

They were loaded on to the Cuban ship MN Manley Havant at Teesport in Middlesbrough, from where they set sail for Communist island.

The ambulances, from London, Wales and West Yorkshire, were bought and transported by Salud International, an organisation which sent 35 ambulances and other vehicles to Cuba in 1999.

Money for the latest convoy was raised through an appeal to trade unions and companies.

Rodney Bickerstaffe, the outgoing general secretary of Unison, Britain's largest trade union, who has given his support to the appeal, said yesterday: "When I was in Havana in May, I visited an ambulance station and was proud to see front-line emergency ambulances donated by Unison's London Ambulance Service branch.

"I am particularly proud to be associated with this humanitarian project, that symbolises the seasonal spirit of peace and goodwill.

"I call on both President Clinton and the incoming President Bush to urgently lift the 40-year blockade of the island, as a matter of urgency."

Phil Lenton, the international coordinator for Salud International, said: "Our success has been down to scores of trade unionists across the country working modestly, and in silence, to send to Cuba two of the biggest aid donations this country has seen.

"We hope to repeat this for a third time on a much bigger scale in the near future."