PARAMEDICS and police today condemned mindless yobs who 'trashed' an ambulance while it was parked outside its station, saying lives could have been put at risk.

Darwen was left without on-the-spot ambulance cover for nearly two hours while a replacement vehicle was arranged.

And vital, life-saving equipment was put out of action until the following day, when it had to be put through necessary safety checks.

Paramedic Chris Frazer-Clark said the incident had left him and his colleagues stunned.

"It beggars belief that anyone could do this to an ambulance," said Chris. "This is an emergency vehicle with no other purpose than to help people and whatever their mentality, the people who did this must have had some idea of the potential problems they were causing."

Cupboards and draws were torn open and the contents strewn around the vehicle and delicate equipment was tampered with.

"It doesn't look like anything has been stolen and we can only think they were looking for drugs," said Chris.

"The drugs and medication we do carry are locked in a secure cabinet but they are not the kind that would be of any use to recreational users.

"For the best part of two hours there was not a serviceable ambulance in Darwen and that could easily have cost someone their life," he added.

The ambulance, which contained a heart-start defibrillator and other resuscitation equipment, was parked outside the station at the time of the incident, between 7pm and 7.40pm on Friday, while duty staff were inside.

Paramedic Ray Speak said it was a sad reflection on society that even an ambulance was not safe from attack.

"We should be able to leave them anywhere but even when we are on an emergency job we have to lock the vehicle," said Ray. "There is nothing in the ambulance that is of any use or value to anyone except an ambulance man who may be trying to save lives."

Inspector Stuart Whittle said: "This offence is being investigated. People who commit these crimes have no consideration for the impact it may have on other people, especially in this case where an ambulance was out of action the impact could have been considerable and lives could have been put at risk. This was just a thoughtless act."

A police scenes of crimes expert removed a cheque book and various papers from the ambulance and checked for fingerprints.