AN investigation into the time ambulances took to reach the scene of a car accident in which 22-year-old Ludlow Ian Huffer died was due to be completed today.

The accident could lead to calls for Ludlow's new emergency ambulance to be available around the clock instead of only from 8am to 8pm.

The inquiry was ordered to look into how Shropshire Ambulance Service handled the accident in Sheet Road, Ludlow, on June 27 and the operational problems caused by a number of other incidents at the same time.

A copy of the report is expected to go to Ludlow coroner Anthony Sibcy, who will hold an inquest on Mr Huffer's death on November 11.

Local services were so stretched that the first ambulance took 34 minutes to come from Shrewsbury, nearly 30 miles away. Mr Huffer, of Chestnut Grove, was trapped in the front passenger seat of a Ford Fiesta and died later in hospital.

Ludlow MP Matthew Green, who helped launch the ambulance at Ludlow Hospital in April, said he hoped that further thought would be given to extending the service. But, he added "It's up to the Ambulance Service to do its budgeting when it looks at the issue."

l Tributes to Ian -- Page 2