Paramedic vehicles similar to this one are taken home

The paramedics, who cover Norfolk and Suffolk, take their cars home after work so that they can be available to answer emergencies both en route, and at home.

This "first community responder" scheme is designed to cut the time it takes to get a trained lifesaver to a patient in remote, rural areas.

However, the Inland Revenue has ruled that use of the marked paramedic vehicles still constitutes a "taxable benefit" similar to a company pool car, and has landed some staff with bill running into hundreds of pounds for the privilege.

East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust has paid these bills for the last couple of years - but says it cannot carry on doing it forever.

It is currently negotiating with the taxman to try to waive the rules where there is a "clear social benefit" from the arrangement.

Angry

However, the Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel is furious.

General Secretary Mark Weatherhead said that staff felt "let down".

He said: "East Anglian Ambulance Trust has abandoned its staff and left them to foot the bill, which is unacceptable."

Officers from the trust are spending a lot of time trying to sort this out Anna Bennett, East Anglian Ambulance Trust

He said that unless the situation improved, staff would simply leave the vehicles at work, and the "first responder" scheme would be hit.

Anna Bennett, the finance director of the ambulance trust denied that it had let the paramedics down.

She said she was hopeful that the new "Agenda for Change" pay deal coming into force would more than adequately compensate paramedics for their extra duties.

She said that negotiations with the Inland Revenue were ongoing.

"What we are looking for is for them to recognise the community benefit that this scheme offers.