Ambulance workers are forced to choose between their own safety and that of their patients due to health and safety rules, according to trade union Unison.

The union has called for a review of ambulance service blacklists documenting 8,500 homes in the UK where there is a history of violence against paramedics. Staff have to wait outside these houses until the police arrive and this puts them in a ‘moral dilemma'.

Head of health at Unite Karen Jennings said: "I think there are serious questions to ask about whether ambulance crews should sit outside if somebody inside is having a heart attack.

"Having said that, if that household has a history of attacking people when they go in, then it doesn't do anybody any good if they were to just rush in and put themselves at risk."