A 26-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of threatening behaviour after an abusive note was left on the windscreen of an ambulance responding to an emergency.
The arrest followed a plea by West Midlands Ambulance Service staff who reported at the weekend how colleagues had found a hand-written note from an irate resident complaining that the vehicle was parked outside their house.
The ambulance was responding to a 999 call in the Tunstall area of Stoke-on-Trent at the time.
Staffordshire Police’s Chief Inspector John Owen said on Twitter: “We have arrested a 26 year old female for public order offences.”
He added: “Emergency Services must be able to carry out their roles without fear of abuse/intimidation of any kind.”
The woman, from Tunstall, is in custody suspected of a Section 4 Public Order offence.
Paramedic mentor Katie Tudor posted a picture of the note on Twitter, copying in the police.
The note read: “If this van is for anyone but Number 14 then you have no right to be parked here.
“I couldn’t give a shit if the whole street collasped (sic). Now move your van from outside my house.”
Ms Tudor, who said the crew in question had also been verbally abused, used Twitter to draw the note to the attention of Staffordshire Police Chief Constable Gareth Morgan.
Reacting to the news of an arrest, she thanked the force and Mr Owen, who is the local policing commander for the Stoke North area.
Social media users had reacted with disbelief and anger at the note, with one official ambulance service Twitter account commenting “#sadtimes”.