Ambulance crash driver named

Mr Hammond's family said he would be greatly missed

A man who died when his car collided with an ambulance on a 999 call has been named.

Robert Hammond died on Sunday when the Toyota Corolla he was driving crashed head on into an ambulance which was carrying a two-day-old baby girl.

The car was travelling to Newport on the East Cowes Road on the Isle of Wight when it crashed.

Mr Hammond, 53, from Sandown, was confirmed dead at the scene. Police have appealed for witnesses.

In a statement, Mr Hammond's family said: "It is with great sadness that Sybil and Denis Hammond and family wish to announce the tragic death of our son, Robert John Hammond, killed in a road traffic incident on Sunday.

"He was much loved and will be greatly missed by his son, mother and father, sister and brother and all his close family.

"Our thoughts go out to the other casualties involved in the incident."

Broken leg

The front seat passenger in the Toyota - a 40-year-old Newport man - suffered head injuries and remains in a critical but stable condition in Southampton General Hospital.

The baby in the ambulance was not hurt but a nurse, a 51-year-old Waterlooville man, suffered a broken leg.

A six-year-old Newport boy sitting in the back seat of the Toyota was not injured but was kept in St Mary's Hospital overnight for observation, a police spokesman said.

The ambulance driver, a 42-year-old Portsmouth man, was treated and discharged from the hospital after sustaining bruising to his chest.

Police want to hear from anyone who saw the Toyota and the ambulance collide or who saw the vehicles being driven before the crash.