Sussex ambulance crews have dramatically improved their response times, new figures reveal today - but they are still not meeting Government targets.

The figures show Sussex crews responded to 64 per cent of urgent 999 calls within eight minutes between April and September this year.

Ambulance chiefs say it is a massive improvement on the 56.5 per cent achieved in 1999 to 2000 and shows action being taken to reduce response times is succeeding.

But the Government says by March 2001, 75 per cent of "immediately life threatening calls" should be reached within eight minutes.

A report published today in Health Which? magazine, based on Government statistics, showed just one regional service - Staffordshire - achieved the target, scoring 87.4 per cent.

However, Trevor Anderson, operations director for Sussex Ambulance Service NHS Trust, is confident crews will meet the target by March.

He said a £841,000 Government grant had paid for initiatives which had already cut response times.

Mr Anderson said: "We are confident that if all our plans come to fruition for the training and recruitment of staff, and if demand doesn't go through the roof in winter, we will achieve the target.

"We have recruited 140 staff and have people joining us from other services, so we must be a better employer than they are.

"We are recruiting members of the public to become fast-track paramedics in three years.

"Although we are still experiencing inappropriate demand, there will be campaigns this winter to make sure the public don't call us unless there is a need."

In 1998 a new telephone system was introduced to prioritise calls as urgent or non-urgent. Mr Anderson said this was working well.

Other measures include a new night-duty ambulance being launched in Brighton this month and seven new rapid response cars.

By the end of next month, medics will be put on duty at 30 accident hot spots around Sussex. They include Preston Drove in Brighton and Eastbourne Pier.