Police arrest woman over offensive ‘Move your van’ note left on ambulance parked outside house

Andy Wells
·Freelance Writer
<em>West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic mentor Katie Tudor (right) tweeted the note that was left on the ambulance on Sunday morning (SWNS)</em>
West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic mentor Katie Tudor (right) tweeted the note that was left on the ambulance on Sunday morning (SWNS)

A woman has been arrested in connection with an offensive note left on an ambulance that told the driver to “move your van”.

The hand-written message was placed on an emergency vehicle in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, angrily demanding that paramedics move on.

it read: “If this van is for anyone but Number 14 then you have no right to be parked here.

“I couldn’t give a s**t if the whole street collasped (sic). Now move your van from outside my house.”

John Owen, Commander of policing in Stoke-on-Trent North, confirmed this morning that an arrest had been made.

He wrote on Twitter: “We have arrested a 26-year-old female for public order offences.

“Emergency Services must be able to carry out their roles without fear of abuse/intimidation of any kind.”

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West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic mentor Katie Tudor posted a picture of the note on Twitter over the weekend, copying in Staffordshire Police’s main account.

She wrote: “So upset to be sent this by one of our crews this morning!

“Along with this note left on their ambulance, they received a load of verbal abuse!”

<em>The angry note was left on an ambulance parked outside a house (SWNS)</em>
The angry note was left on an ambulance parked outside a house (SWNS)

She later added: “They weren’t blocking the road, they were in a parking space… just obviously annoying someone that an ambo was outside their property.”

The paramedic, who is based in Stoke-on-Trent, then went on to ask: “Is there anything that can be done about this? It’s becoming a regular occurrence.”

Tweeters responded to offer praise to the emergency services in light of the note:

Paramedic operational manager Mike Duggan also shared a picture of the note and said the emergency services were increasingly facing growing level of hostility.

He told Birmingham Live: “People seem to have no respect for the work we’re doing or the fact we’re helping someone.

“We don’t block roads for the sake of it.

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“We are seeing more and more abuse – this was not an isolated incident. But these people would want our help if it was one of their relatives.”

This isn’t the first time West Midlands Ambulance Service crews have faced abuse from members of the public.

<em>Ms Tudor said the notes were starting to become a “regular occurrence” (SWNS)</em>
Ms Tudor said the notes were starting to become a “regular occurrence” (SWNS)

Last November, paramedics were told to move their ambulance as they treated a heart attack patient in Dudley.

Also that month, another note was left on the windscreen of an ambulance in Small Heath, Birmingham, which read: “You may be saving lives but don’t park your van in a stupid place and block my drive”.

Teaching assistant Hassan Shabbir Ali, 27, later apologised for writing the note “in the heat of the moment”.

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