AMBULANCE bosses in North Yorkshire could face the sack after scoring zero marks in Government league tables.

Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service Trust failed key targets for financial management and meeting emergencies within eight minutes.

As a result, the Commission for Health Improvement said it was one of only five ambulance trusts in the country to fail to pick up any stars.

Now managers will be given three months to draw up an action plan to improve standards.

If regional NHS bosses are not satisfied with the plan, the Trust could be "franchised" - with new managers installed in place of the existing team.

Chief executive Jayne Barnes , who has been in post for a month, said great progress had already been made in improving services from last year - when the CHI assessment took place - and work would continue.

She said: "To put this in context, the star ratings are a snapshot of an organisation, based on historical performance over the last financial year.

"Since then, we have made significant improvements. Our Category A response times (target: 75 per cent of life-threatening calls in eight minutes) are currently 74.8 per cent, despite an unremitting rise in our A&E workload.

"Furthermore there is absolutely no criticism of the clinical care our staff provide for patients."

Updated: 10:36 Wednesday, July 16, 2003