THE crew of a private ambulance told an inquest they ran for their lives leaving the keys in the ignition after a mental health patient grabbed the wheel of their vehicle.

Patient Michael South, 40, from York, drove off in the Peugeot ambulance, later colliding with a double decker bus containing 16 people, and another vehicle.

Mr South died in the crash on the A64 at Flaxton, the driver of the bus suffered serious leg injuries, five other people were treated for minor injuries.

An inquest into Mr South’s death heard from the crew who told the court they did not have training with mental health issues.

Lauren Clark, who was training to be an ambulance care assistant with the private ambulance contractor ERS, said they had picked Mr South up from St James Hospital in Leeds and were transferring him to the mental health unit at Bootham Hospital in York.

But as they approached Askham Bryan on the A64 she said Mr South had been looking at her strangely and she looked away through the window when suddenly he went past her shouting “I can hear voices” and grabbed the wheel of the vehicle which was being driven by David Winterton.

“As Dave braked I got my belt off and got out and shut the door,” said Ms Clark. When asked by Mr Oakley why she didn’t do anything to stop Mr South she replied:”I didn’t know what to do, we are trained to get ourselves out of danger first.”

Mr Winterton told the hearing the first he knew of any problems was when he heard Mr South shouting and then the patient grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and tried to pull the vehicle off the road. He said he slammed on the brakes and brought the ambulance to a halt, he jumped out and told Lauren to jump out as well, leaving the keys in the ignition.

“It all happened within 15 seconds I thought our lives were in danger,” said Mr Winterton.

The inquest is being held by North Yorkshire East coroner Michael Oakley at Bedale Hall.

The court had been told Mr South had a long history of depression, suffering from bipolar disorders. He was admitted to hospital after stabbing himself in the chest on April 7, 2015.

On April 10 he was discharged from a medical ward and agreed to go as a voluntary patient to the mental health unit at Bootham Hospital. Ms Clark said they were told by hospital staff when they picked him up that he had been sectioned. She said she had done only three or four other transfers with sectioned patients and an escort had also been present in the ambulance.

In previous evidence Sister Sithatshisiwe Dlamimi from St James' Hospital said she had not said Mr South had been sectioned because he hadn’t. The inquest is due to end on Thursday.