Vintage vehicles at Ambulance crews RecreationGround praisedforactions

There will be a host of classic vehicles on display in Seaburn this the weekend.

The North East Festival of Transport takes place at the Recreation Ground today and tomorrow.

The event aims to fulfil a long held wish of transport enthusiasts in the region to create a major showcase, similar to those held in other parts of the country.

On display will be a collection of vehicles from several decades.

Included in the attractions will be vintage buses, commercial transport, motorcycles and military vehicles, as well as the cars belonging to the enthusiasts.

There will be a free bus service around the area for visitors to use and there is a £2 admission charge into the Recreation Ground.

Jointly organised with the Sunderland and District Classic Vehicle Society, with support from Sunderland City Council’s area north committee, hundreds are expected at the event.

Vehicle owners and clubs from Yorkshire to the Scottish Borders will take part in the weekend festival.

This is the second year the festival has been held, and follows the successful 34th annual Historic Vehicle Rally recently held over the bank holiday weekend. North East paramedics reached ‘every single patient’ who needed care during the so-called ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap earlier this year. Bosses from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said they were ‘incredibly proud’ of the planning they put in place to deal with the weather in February and March.

Speaking at yesterday’s meeting of the North East Joint Health Scrutiny Committee, NEAS’s assistant director of communications and engagement, Mark Cotton, also praised the response from the public for recognising the pressures on the NHS at the time.

He said: “Many of the hospitals cancelled or postponed elective surgery, which meant our vehicles weren’t needed to move patients. And the public were excellent in not putting demand on the service unnecessarily – overall the 999 demand dropped.

“We got to every single patient who needed us and where there was a delay a doctor or a nurse rang them regularly to make sure they were okay.”

Mr Cotton added such a coordinated response would have been more difficult elsewhere in the country, where services are more fragmented and provided by multiple organisations, such as charities.