[bbfan1991]

An ambulance was stolen from outside a Teesside house by joyriders, police have said.

The vehicle was taken at 01:40 BST on Sunday while paramedics were inside the property at Wynyard Close in Hartlepool treating the victim of an assault.

It was later found abandoned nearby with its lights flashing and all its equipment intact.

The North East Ambulance Service said it could have put the patient's life at risk if they had been more badly hurt.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said it looked as if it had been taken for a joyride and appealed for anyone with information about the incident to come forward.