A teenager died and his friend lay seriously injured in the road while they waited for an ambulance to reach them - because the nearest paramedics were on a break.

Jamie Johnson, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene of a motorcycle accident.

Pillion passenger Richie Proud, 16, lay for almost 15 minutes after the accident, in which the boys collided with a parked car, near Prudhoe, Northumberland.

But an ambulance crew only two minutes from the scene remained unaware of the incident, leaving a crew almost ten miles away to respond.

The North East Ambulance Service, which covers County Durham and Tyne and Wear, has a policy that workers called out during breaks must be paid extra. Not calling out crews during their meal breaks saves the service £1.2m a year, which would otherwise have to be paid as overtime.

The service has confirmed that staff in Prudhoe were not called to the crash, as they were on their break.

It is believed neither of the boys had been wearing a crash helmet. Police said they failed to stop and were being followed at the time of the accident.

Jamie, from Prudhoe, was thrown from the bike, and went through the car's windscreen.

Police gave first aid at the scene and the accident was classed as "not life-threatening" until medics arrived and realised Jamie was in cardiac arrest.

Richie, from Ovingham, North- umberland, is in intensive care at Newcastle General Hospital.

Paul Liversidge, service director of A&E, said the crew attending the scene arrived within the target time of 19 minutes.

He said: "We got to the scene as fast as we could with the closest available ambulance.

"The Prudhoe crew were on a meal break when we received this call and, based on the information ambulance control received, the call was categorised and we dispatched the nearest available crew in response."

An investigation has been launched and a police spokes-man said: "We have yet to establish whether officers were following the motorbike."

Commenting on the meal breaks issue last September, Simon Featherstone, chief executive of the ambulance service, said: "I realise that there is growing public concern over cases highlighted in the media of delayed responses to 999 calls while crews are not being interrupted during their meal breaks.

"It is not a question that the North East Ambulance Service is saving money by not paying crews for their meal breaks. Patient care is obviously the number one priority of everyone within the trust."