A PRIVATE ambulance firm which is used by Hampshire's ambulance service has gone bust.

It was announced on Tuesday Fareham-based SSG UK Specialist Ambulance Service has gone into administration.

The private company, which provides ambulances throughout Hampshire for the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS), will now no long be in use in the UK.

However, bosses at SCAS have said that they will take "swift action" to prevent any disruption to patients.

A spokesperson from SCAS said: "South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) was made aware yesterday that one of our private ambulance providers, SSG has now gone into administration.

"SSG only provide a small part of our emergency 999 service and we have taken swift action to ensure that any potential disruption to the service we provide to patients is kept to a minimum.

"Our staff and volunteer responders have responded very positively to this news and are working extra shifts and utilising all available fleet to cover the shortfall.

"SCAS utilises a small number of private providers to ensure we can deliver the required level of emergency care safely to our patients.

"We will follow our business continuity arrangements to ensure that SCAS is able to provide the additional ambulances and crews required until such time as a new arrangement has been identified."

The announcement comes nine months after SCAS lifted the suspension on the private firm after the company was rated 'inadequate' by health watchdogs.

The Daily Echo contacted SSG UK for a comment but they did not respond by the time of the paper going to press.