First Yorkshire-made armoured ambulances now on their way to Ukraine

Venari Group, which usually makes ambulances for this country, has put its normal operations on hold and transformed its 120,000 sq ft of shopfloor space in Goole and Brighouse to make the specialist military-grade vehicles.

The ambulances are being built on former British army vehicles and have been stripped, overhauled, modernised and converted into ambulances by Venari’s team, who have been working around the clock to produce them.

Chief executive Oliver North said the first batch of ambulances were sent out for delivery on Thursday morning and are now being transported across Europe to get to Ukraine.

He said manufacturing of more of the ambulances will continue to help meet demand for the vehicles.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in mass death and casualties and the nation has been losing around 10 ambulances per day.

The Yorkshire-built vehicles are designed to carry greater numbers of casualties and have all-terrain capability - meaning they will allow increased manoeuvrability for both paramedics and patients and help medical teams get to more patients. The armoured versions will provide protection from small arms fire.

Venari said the work has come about after the Ukrainian Embassy in London contacted the company’s chief executive Oliver North via Brigg and Goole MP Andrew Percy.

Mr North, a former Royal Engineer, praised the work of his staff in turning around the first ambulances so quickly - with work beginning late last month.

Funding for the project has come from a number of wealthy Ukrainian businessmen and UK-based organisations.

Earlier this week, it was announced that the UK was sending 20 NHS ambulances to Ukraine.

This donation will help replace those Ukrainian ambulances lost to Russian attacks.

It is estimated more than 12 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance across Ukraine.

The conflict has stretched Ukraine’s health services, with Russia’s indiscriminate attacks targeting civilian shelters and even hospitals.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: "We have sadly seen day after day the horrific impacts of Putin’s cruel war on the people of Ukraine, including evidence of appalling acts by Russian troops in towns such as Irpin and Bucha.

"The UK has been among the biggest aid donors, providing food, medicines and generators to help those affected. These world class NHS ambulances will now help bring lifesaving care directly to those injured in the conflict."

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, there have been more than 1,500 civilian deaths and 2,200 injuries in Ukraine since the start of war.

Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.

The OHCHR said it believes that the actual figures are "considerably higher", as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.

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