WEST Midlands Ambulance Service has launched a campaign to highlight the problems faced by its workers.

The 'Under Attack' campaign calls for tougher sentences for people who attack and abuse ambulance staff.

More than 200 cases were reported last year of workers being attacked, verbally abused or threatened while doing their job and the issue continues to be a "real concern".

Recalling his experience of being attacked by a bystander while tending to a patient in a car park , paramedic Andy Allsopp said: "He pushed me back towards the ambulance. It was quite frightening. He had two of his friends behind him so we were outnumbered three to two. He hit me on my chest because I managed to move out of the way – three times.

"It’s at that point, where things start to get a little bit out of hand like that, they you need to think about pushing your emergency button on your radio."

The progress of the campaign can be followed online at www.officialwmas.wordpress.com.