MORE than a dozen ambulances have been spotted queuing outside Southend hospital this morning as the county's ambulance service falls into turmoil.

A photo taken from the hospital this morning shows 13 ambulances queuing to disembark patients. 

Long ambulance queues outside the hospital have become a common sight in the last 10 months.

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A photograph taken last month from a hospital ward showed 20 ambulances queuing outside.

And in May, Southend West MP Anna Firth reported seeing 15 ambulances outside the hospital when she was there for a charity event.

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) yesterday released a statement revealing many of its ambulance have been delayed outside hospitals.

EEAST has struggled to cope with demand so far this year, with regular reports of long queues of ambulances outside Southend Hospital’s A&E department.

A spokesman for the trust said: "Our service is under extreme pressure with many ambulances delayed outside hospitals and high call volumes.

"To help us respond effectively we have increased our escalation state across the trust.

"We urge the public to support us by using our service wisely and only calling for life-threatening illness or injuries."

EEAST)will devolve powers within the service to a sub-county level from November.

The trust, formed in 2006 following the merger of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, East Anglia and Essex ambulance services, has taken the moved to alleviate pressure on the service.