A car pulls out in front of a fire engine on a call in South Yorkshire

One fire crew in South Yorkshire wrote off two appliances in two years, costing the taxpayer �250,000, the BBC's Inside Out programme revealed.

Police, ambulance and fire service drivers blamed most of the accidents on poor driving by members of the public.

Bad driving could cost vital seconds and put drivers in danger, they warned.

Drivers panic

One South Yorkshire firefighter told the programme: "Invariably, they [members of the public] have not got their minds on what is happening outside their vehicle.

"When we are responding to emergency calls sometimes we are giving these people a warning from a far distance but they do not seem to know we are there right until we are on top of them.

"They make strange manoeuvres and panic when they see the emergency vehicle coming towards them."

However, road safety charity Brake told Inside Out that emergency service drivers should shoulder some of the blame.

A Brake spokesman said: "No emergency vehicles should break a speed limit, and the blue lights and sirens should be enough to ensure they get to their destination quickly and safely.

"The training of emergency drivers needs to be examined and tightened up for the safety of the crews themselves and for members of the public."