Youngsters target air ambulance

An air ambulance service has hit out at so called "mindless idiots" who are believed to have shot at crews as they tried to respond to an emergency.

The Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance launched in 2003 and has helped save more than 2,500 lives.

When they were at an incident in Bilton Road, Rugby, last week the police had to disperse a crowd of youths that refused to let the helicopter take off.

Afterwards the crew discovered a BB gun had been pointed on the helicopter.

Increasingly paramedics say they are calling for police support when they are on emergencies to deal with crowd control.

The service, based at Coventry Airport and relies entirely on public donations, lost its main sponsor earlier this year with the collapse of Rover.

But the paramedics say they remain as determined as ever to keep on saving people's lives.