Ambulance drivers on emergency calls will not be fined for going over the speed limit, the government has said. Health minister Rosie Winterton made the pledge to the Ambulance Service Association meeting in Harrogate.
Automatic fines are often generated when ambulances pass speed cameras while attending emergencies.
While trusts do not have to pay the fines, staff have to spend time filling out paperwork to prove ambulances were attending emergencies.
Ambulance trusts have said this form-filling is a waste of time and public money.
The Ambulance Service Association (ASA) estimates that it costs trusts up to �1million a year.
In response to calls from the ASA, the government has said it will write to all police forces issuing new guidance for how speed tickets issued to ambulances should be dealt with.
In the future, fixed penalty notices can only be sent out if no blue lights can be seen flashing on the speed camera photograph.
Ambulances will also be able to go through red lights without facing a penalty, if they are on an emergency call.
'A simplified system'
Announcing the change, Ms Winterton said: "This will substantially reduce the bureaucracy ambulance staff have to endure by processing speeding tickets.
 |  It's a victory for common sense.  |
"Today's announcement will help ensure that ambulance staff are supported in delivering first class services for patients." The ASA said it supported the move.
Chief Executive Richard Diment said: "We're delighted that this bureaucratic nightmare has been resolved.
"It will save the NHS a lot more time and money, freeing up ambulance trust resources."
A spokesperson from Association of Chief Police Officers said: "ACPO, the Home Office and the Health Service have worked together to introduce a simplified system.
"The guidance issued to all police forces in England and Wales will minimise any administrative burden on the emergency service and standardise the approach in respect of vehicle occurrences involving excess speed and red lights."
Karen Jennings head of health at Unison said: "The announcement will come as a huge relief to ambulance drivers who have had to live with the threat of losing their licence and possibly their livelihood, just for doing their job - it's a victory for common sense.
"It will also cut down on the mountains of extra paperwork that Ambulance Trusts have been forced to deal with as a result of these speed traps.
"I am sure that patients and their relatives will breathe a sigh of relief that drivers will now be able to get to A&E as quickly as possible and not be forced to slow down to avoid getting caught by a camera."
Last year, Mick Ferguson, of the West Yorkshire ambulance service was taking a liver to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridgeshire when he was found to be driving at 104 mph on the A1 near Grantham, Lincolnshire.
The case reached magistrate's court, but the charge was dropped. But it led the Crown Prosecution Service to call for speeding rules linked to speeding to be rethought.
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