MOSCOW: Police in Moscow are to carry out checks on ambulances after reports that emergency vehicles have been fitted with plush interiors and are being rented out to VIP commuters hoping to dodge the city's appalling traffic jams.

They face random checks after companies advertising rides in "ambulance-taxis" for upwards of 6000 roubles ($185) an hour appeared on the internet.

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The vehicles are said to use their sirens to scatter traffic and deliver harried businessman to meetings on time.

A law enforcement source told Izvestiya that one such vehicle had already been identified. "During a patrol, a medical car was stopped because it was breaking traffic rules," the source said.