LIFE-SAVING drugs have gone missing after they fell out of the back of an ambulance racing to an emergency call.

It is thought that two bags vanished when a door slid open in the South Bank area of Middlesbrough on Tuesday at about 8.30pm.

A full investigation has been launched by the North East Ambulance Service to determine how the bags disappeared.

In the red bag, containing drugs to treat patients suffering a heart attack would be 16 boxes of Adrenaline, 3 boxes of Atropine, 3 boxes of Amiodarone and ten boxes of Naloxone.

The maximum amount of drugs in the black bag would be one bottle of ibuprofen, 12 sachets of Calpol for children aged 3 months to six years, 12 sachets of Calpol for children aged 6 years and above and 24 Ibuprofen tablets.

Dave Owen, assistant operations manager for Tees Division at the North East Ambulance Service, said: "The ambulance crew were answering a 999 call when it appears that a door to the vehicle slid open and the two bags fell out in the vicinity of Longlands Road in Middlesbrough.

"A paramedic team leader went back over the route the ambulance had driven to try and find the missing bags before reporting the incident to the police and ambulance control.

"We would urge anyone who comes across these bags to hand them into the nearest police station," he added.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Middlesbrough Police Station on 01642-303126.