By Tom Pugh
The Press Association
EAST SUSSEX, England — A man died after an ambulance being driven by a police officer left a country road in poor weather conditions and careered into a bush, police said.
The man, in his early 30s, received life-threatening injuries when his Mini was in a crash with a highways vehicle carrying road equipment.
The accident happened on the A271 Boreham Street, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, just before 2.30pm yesterday, Sussex Police said.
Due to the severity of the Mini driver’s injuries, both the ambulance crew members treated him in the back of the ambulance while a road policing officer drove it to Eastbourne District General Hospital.
But about 20 minutes later the ambulance crashed into a bush on Standard Hill, Ninfield.
The Sussex Police helicopter and Kent Air Ambulance attended the second crash but the Mini driver, from Horam, was pronounced dead.
One of the ambulance crew was treated at hospital for minor injuries.
A police spokesman said it was “normal practice’’ in such incidents for road policing officers to drive ambulances when additional medical help was needed.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was contacted by Sussex Police and asked for the inquiry to continue locally before a decision about any involvement by the police watchdog can be made on Monday.
Meanwhile, a 36-year-old man from St Leonards-on-Sea, who was driving the highways vehicle operated by a contractor on behalf of East Sussex County Council, was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving. He remained in custody last night.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Ashcroft, of Sussex Police, said: “This is a complex series of interlinked events which happened during adverse weather conditions.
“A detailed investigation involving forensic collision investigators is continuing against a backdrop of worsening weather.
“Our thoughts are with the deceased man’s family who have now been informed.’'
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