A woman and a teenage girl were arrested today over the theft of an ambulance during an emergency call-out.

Paramedics had left the vehicle in Hardwicke Street in Dublin’s north inner city to attend to an elderly patient in Rory O’Connor House at about 3am this morning when it was stolen.

The ambulance was driven in the direction of Mountjoy Square, where a Garda patrol car spotted it and chased it for a short distance.

The suspects abandoned the vehicle in nearby Great Charles Street and a brief pursuit on foot followed.

Gardaí said a 27-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl were arrested at the scene.

The teenager was later released while the woman is being held at Store Street Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.