East of England Ambulance Service the worst in the country says MEP Alex Mayer

The trust also consistently missed the seven minute response time for the most urgent circumstances every month from March to July this year, all five months, from March to July 2018.

The new figures, obtained by the BBC via a Freedom of Information request, also show that between 2015 and 2017, the total number of emergency calls received increased by 15 per cent.

Essex MEP Alex Mayer hit out at the Government in the wake of the revelations, urging it to take immediate action to prevent an even greater impact on patient’s lives.

The Labour Party MEP said: “At the start of the year we had an emergency investigation into whether ambulance delays caused the deaths of patients in the East of England. We were promised improvements.

“This is no reflection on our hard working ambulance staff.

"These professionals need to be given the tools to do their lifesaving jobs.

“I’m worried if our ambulance service is missing targets in the summer and the possible problems that could occur if there is another winter crisis.

"The Government needs to better resource the whole NHS.”

The only service to show a poorer performance in terms of longest wait times was the Welsh Ambulance Service, which left one patient waiting for 62 hours.

A spokesman for the ambulance trust said: “With a growing volume of 999 calls for conditions not deemed life-threatening or urgent, and a need to focus on our sickest patients first, less life threatening calls do wait during exceptionally busy periods.

“There were more 999 calls than there were ambulances, so our sickest patients had to be prioritised first.

"An independent service review confirmed there was a gap between demand and available capacity.

"New investment will mean more recruits and ambulances will, over time, support response improvements.”

The shortage of paramedics and ambulances has been a major problem for years.