A life-saving ambulance volunteer has been sacked because he drove TOO FAST to answer a 999 call to a patient who had collapsed and was unable to breathe.
First Responder Godfrey Smith was driving a high visibility ambulance Land Rover, but was told he was being dismissed because he drove a 33mph in a 20mph zone.
The stunned 64-year-old, who has been saving lives by being first on the scene of serious incidents for 15 years, said he was told he had lost his job because he had �breached road traffic law.�
Bosses at South Central Ambulance Service dismissed Mr Smith after checking instruments in his liveried Land Rover and discovering he had travelled down a shopping street in the centre of Oxford at 13mph faster than he should have done.
The new 20mph speed restriction zones have been much-criticised by local drivers in Oxford who claim they cause traffic jams.
Mr Smith, who lives in Faringdon, was called by ambulance controllers to go from the Carfax centre in Oxford to the city�s St Clements area, to give immediate treatment to a man who had collapsed with breathing problems.
He jumped in his marked SCAS Land Rover and, on his way, pulled up alongside an RAF responder car at the lights by Longwall Street to ask if they were also attending, which they were.
He said following the conversation he drove around a bollard to get ahead of the traffic, but that at no point was anybody at risk.
Mr Smith added: �If I thought it was dangerous I wouldn�t have done it. There was no traffic coming the other way, the lights were on red.�
However, following a complaint about his conduct, it was discovered on Mr Smith�s satellite navigation system that he was travelling at 33mph in the 20mph zone.
He said today: �I am gobsmacked, it feels like they have ripped my soul out.
�There was no thanks whatsoever for my 15 years of service.
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