The London Ambulance Service vehicle crashed into a car that was lined up blocking the road outside the Shell garage on Bromley Hill in south London while out on an emergency call-out
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London: Ambulance collides with petrol queue in Bromley Hill
An ambulance with flashing blue lights crashed into a car queuing for petrol as panic buying continues into a third day.
The London Ambulance Service vehicle was responding to an emergency call-out when it was obstructed by a long line of cars at the Shell garage on Bromley Hill in south London.
A video of the incident shows it slowing down in a bid to get around the obstruction, only to crash into the side of one of the cars.
Witness Millar Blane watched on in horror as the ambulance was obstructed while making the potentially life saving journey on Saturday.
“An ambulance with sirens on, making its way through the double queue, uphill and downhill, at the entrance to the petrol station which was blocking all through-traffic,” Millar told The Mirror.
“Eventually the ambulance rams into the back of one of the queuing cars, with a characteristic noise and bits of the car’s back light falling on the road.
The vehicles collided in a petrol station queue in the capital on Saturday
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Image:
Millar Blane)
The ambulance and car collided near a south London service station
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Image:
Millar Blane)
“Then the ambulance stopped the siren, parked and went to talk to the people in the car, exchanging details – as they should by law.
“But presumably there remains a victim somewhere in a desperate state, requiring urgent medical attention.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We can confirm that one of our ambulances was involved in a collision with another vehicle on Bromley Hill at approximately 6.55pm (Saturday, 25 September), while on a blue light call to a patient.
“As a result of the incident, the ambulance was out of service for a short amount of time and a different ambulance crew attended the patient.”
The ambulance had been on duty and en route to help a patient
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Image:
Millar Blane)
The London Ambulance Service said the paramedics were on a ‘blue light’ call at the time of the collision
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Image:
Millar Blane)
The queue outside the garage blocked the road for much of the day.
“Forgot I live near a petrol station,” one Twitter user posted on Saturday afternoon.
“There’s a queue all the way up Bromley Hill.”
UK motorists have found themselves in the grips of panic buying hysteria following reports that several stations were running short of fuel.
Despite pleas from the government not to rush to the pumps, tens of thousands of people have done so anyway.
Motorists queue at a Sainsbury’s petrol station in Alperton, West London on Sunday morning
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Image:
London News Pictures)
Worried drivers formed lines again on Sunday before petrol stations opened in hopes of filling up, as scenes queuing stretched into another day.
Others were seen carrying jerry cans onto forecourts on Saturday.
At least one bust-up was witnessed, as a clash broke out at a busy petrol station in Portsmouth, Hants, where drivers had flocked to a Shell station.
Two groups of men were ‘screaming’ at each other before one group chased another fleeing in a van – hurling stones at the vehicle, according to a witness.
Drivers flocked to the pumps in the capital again for a third day running
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Image:
London News Pictures)
The ugly scenes shocked onlookers at a forecourt in the Hilsea area of the city at around 8.30am.
A witness said: “People were queuing throughout the night. Pumps are almost dry.”
The man said the groups were screaming and shouting at each other.
He added: “One group got into their van and drove off out of the city as the other group gave chase and hurled stones at the retreating van. It’s utter madness.”
Lengthy queues were spotted around London, Essex and Kent to Bristol and Cambridgeshire this weekend, as industry bosses warned the capital and south of England were worst affected.
Some petrol stations had road cones blocking forecourt lanes and signs announcing they were closed as pumps ran dry.
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ambulance-999-call-crashes-car-25073570
