EAST YORKS: Equipment worth £75,000 has been stolen from Yorkshire Ambulance Service vehicles in the past five years.

The service has revealed there have been 89 thefts from ambulances, including seven in Hull and ten in the East Riding.

Items stolen from the service included vehicle satellite navigation systems, mobile phones, hand-held radios and uniforms.

The most serious was the theft of a defibrillator, though this was later recovered by police.

A spokesman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) said all of the thefts have been reported to police.

He said: "The nature of our work in emergency situations creates an increased risk of theft from vehicles in some circumstances.

"The trust takes such thefts very seriously as it may have an impact on our service for patients, as well as the financial impact of the loss.

"Vehicles are fitted with CCTV, mobile phones and radios are tracked or disabled immediately.

"All YAS equipment is overtly and covertly marked and every effort is made to recover any stolen items."