AMBULANCE crews working to save lives in the region have been stolen from, verbally or physically abused more than 200 times so far this year.

The shocking figures came to light after a group of youths targeted a crew who were helping a young woman in Darlington’s South Park on Friday, October 13.

As they were treating their patient, they were verbally abused by a group of youngsters gathered nearby and later realised that one of them had made off with a heavy-duty torch used by paramedics.

Douglas McDougall, Strategic Head of Operations said: “As a service, we have reported over 200 incidents of theft, verbal or physical abuse and intimidating behaviour to the police this year.

“We do not tolerate any form of violence, aggression or theft against our employees and actively encourage them to report any violent, abusive or theft incidents so that we can support them to pursue a formal criminal complaint and provide the support they require following an incident.

“Our staff joined this service to help people and they should not have to deal with incidents of this nature in the course of their work.”

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary called Friday’s theft “mindless” and said an investigation into the incident, which happened at around 9.10pm, is currently on-going.

The torch is described as large, heavy-duty and bright orange. Anyone with information should contact police on non-emergency number 101 quoting incident number 576 of October 13.