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Ambulance crews are literally running on empty....with vehicles dangerously low on fuel and workers owed thousands of pounds in wages, the TUC will hear today.

And union leaders warn that hard-working ambulance crews are paying a high price for the privatisation of their service.

Two workers have been served with eviction notices because they have been unable to keep up with their rent due to unpaid wages. Some are owned up to £6,000.

One ambulance worker told the Mirror: "A colleague did not think there was enough fuel in the ambulance to go on a job .

"The driver was told to drive to a petrol station and wait until they were given a PIN number to use a card to get £40 worth of fuel.

"It is a disgraceful way to run a service, it is happening on a regular basis and morale is rock bottom because so many of us are owed unpaid wages."

(Image: Getty)

The GMB Union is calling on the Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups, which privatised its Patient Transport Service earlier this year.

It gave the contract for the non-emergency ambulance services - taking patients from doctors' surgeries or nursing homes to hospital to the private firm Coperforma.

The firm,which boasts of providing 1,500 patient journeys every working day, allowed three other companies to take on the work.

In June one of the companies went into liquidation and five ambulances were seized by bailiffs and staff were left without wages.

Coperforma did a deal with a company called Docklands to run the service, but it was unable to pay wages - with some owned three months pay.

To highlight the treatment of the 65 ambulance workers the GMB is holding a demonstration outside the Trades Union Congress in Brighton today (weds).

The GMB is calling for the NHS to take the Patient Transport Service back under pubic ownership.

The union will be giving £100 hardship vouchers to members who are now in a financial straight jacket because of the Tories stealth privatisation of the NHS.

Paul Maloney, GMB regional secretary, said:" is an absolute scandal and an insult to ambulance staff that they are expected to work and not receive any salary at the end of the week. Our staff are owed up to £6k each.

"The CCG made up of local GPs have to answer for their actions and GMB will not spare any resources to expose these agents of the Tory privatisation loonies.

"The GMB will mount pickets on the GP surgeries responsible for this disaster

the GMB will instruct solicitors to apply for winding up order for all companies connected to this robbery of our members."

The Mirror contacted Coperforma but a spokesman was not available for comment.