'Don't block my drive' note left on ambulance Published duration 11 November 2017

image copyright West Midlands Ambulance Service image caption The ambulance service said "we just don't know quite what to say".

Paramedics say they have been left shocked by a note left on an ambulance windscreen telling them not to block a driveway.

The note read: "You may be saving lives but don't park your van in a stupid place and block my drive."

West Midlands Ambulance Service said paramedics received the note on Friday after going to a man in a critical condition in Small Heath, Birmingham.

"Sometimes we just don't know quite what to say," the service said.

"Our staff will always try and park considerately, but sometimes there just isn't time."

'No empathy'

The patient was in a critical condition and was vomiting blood in the ambulance before being taken to Heartlands Hospital as an emergency case.

The service said the ambulance was at the scene for no longer than 30 minutes.

The ambulance service shared the note on Facebook with the hashtag "#patientscomefirst" and the post has received more than a thousand reactions.

Lisa Howard commented: "Not an ounce of empathy... shame on them".

Another user, Sarah Peacock, commented: "Hope they [the person who wrote the note] sees this and feels ashamed," adding that the ambulance service does "a terrific job".