PENDLE MP Gordon Prentice has congratulated the Lancashire Ambulance Service for being one of only two rural services in England to meet the emergency response targets.

He welcomed figures that showed that 77 per cent of life threatening calls were reached within eight minutes and 97 per cent of all other calls in less than 20 minutes.

Both figures exceeded those set down for them by the patients' charter standard.

Mr Prentice said: "They are doing a great job. The number of calls goes up each year and it is no small task to achieve the very high targets set in responding to them."