The £34.3 million funding package will see 326 new accident and emergency vehicles introduced, as well as 250 support vehicles. The former will include 65 paramedic response units (cars or motorbikes used to get paramedics to the scene of an incident as quickly as possible) while the latter will include 98 patient transport vehicles and 151 support vehicles.

Announcing the funding package, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘Our hardworking ambulance staff do a fantastic job and are out 365 days a year saving lives.

‘They cannot do this without a modern, up-to-date mix of vehicles that allow them to provide the very best patient care to the people of Scotland.’

Scottish Ambulance Service chief executive Pauline Howie added: ‘Our crews deliver the highest standard of patient care in a wide range of conditions and environments so it is essential that they operate with the most appropriate equipment.

‘The funding for our vehicle fleet ensures that care continues to be delivered in ambulances that are fit for purpose and specifically designed to meet modern healthcare standards.’

News of the vehicle fleet funding deal comes just a month after the Scottish Ambulance Service awarded a five-year £450,000 vehicle communications contract.

The preferred supplier agreement will see media services company Arqiva install TETRA two-way radios, mobile telephones and ancilliary equipment in the service’s fleet of vehicles.