EEAST to have 40 new ambulances on the road for winter

A total of 40 new Renault Master ambulances will be rolling out for the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) by December.

Twelve new Renault ambulances were bought last year. The Trust has now bought another 40 vehicles to help replace older vehicles.

The first 20 have been delivered and will be on the road soon. The others are planned to be in service by the end of December.

The new ambulances will be around 10% of the total ambulance fleet. They include new technology to turn off idling engines, cutting fuel use and reducing emissions.

Further vehicles will also be joining the fleet over the autumn, including Ford Transit and MAN TGE- based vehicles.

Wayne Lawlor, head of fleet for the Trust said: “Our fleet of vehicles are worked hard - seven days and week – covering more than 1 million miles a month, and our Mercedes ambulances are due to be retired this year.

“The new Renaults will replace these and our crews and patients will have the benefit of newer ambulances as we go into the worst months of winter.

“Our fleet team will be working to replace the aging Mercedes and early generation FIATS and replace them with the new vehicles in the coming weeks."