POORLY children who need to be taken to hospital by ambulance will soon be comforted by pint-sized ambulance crew.

Forty-five woollen teddy bears have reported for duty at Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (TENYAS), to help ease the anxiety for young patients daunted by the interior of an ambulance.

The teddy bears were made by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) based at Acomb Chapel.

TENYAS chief executive Jayne Barnes said: "This is such a lovely, kind-hearted gesture from these church members. The interior of an ambulance, with all its equipment, can be quite a daunting sight to a child and that's when the teddies will come to the fore!"

"Children are often understandably a bit wary about getting into an ambulance, and I'm sure the new recruits will help to put their minds at rest.

Mormon spokeswoman Mandy Bortone said: "Our group tackles various projects, some of which involve a public-service angle, so we came up with the idea of trying to cheer up small children when they have to travel by ambulance.

"We hope our teddies will bring smiles to a lot of little patients' faces."

She said 15 people had made the bears from felt and wool, bought with money from their own pockets.

She said: "When the ambulance crew are called to an accident or a fire or an incident where there are young children then they can give a bear to the young children to distract them or give them a bit of comfort."

Updated: 10:06 Wednesday, January 05, 2005