THE Chief executive of the Great Western Ambulance Service announced an extra £6.75m funding has been secured to recruit more staff and meet national targets.

Anthony Marsh said: "I am determined to transform Great Western Ambulance Service and to improve the speed of our response to 999 calls.

"To do this, the trust has been working with the Strategic Health Authority and the Primary Care Trusts to secure the investment we need.

"I am very pleased to announce that we have secured an additional £6.75m in funding, which is a significant additional investment, consistent with the underlying plans of the Trust.

"This funding will be used to recruit more operational staff to the Trust.

"This means more control room staff to answer 999 calls and dispatch vehicles, and more road crews to attend incidents."

He said the money will also make sure that new staff are fully trained and that existing road crew and control room staff are released to undertake top-up training.