YORKSHIRE Ambulance Service has been told it can take longer to get to some of the most urgent Barnsley calls because it cannot meet its targets.

The Primary Care Trust has given YAS until November to reach 75 per cent of category A calls in eight minutes, which is a national regulation.

There was an agreement that ambulances would get to 78 per cent of such calls within this time, but the regional merger of ambulance services has brought Barnsley into line with the rest of Yorkshire. YAS South Yorkshire assistant director of operations Steve Rendi says the national target was achieved between last April and March if the year is taken as a whole. However there were five months when YAS missed the 75 per cent threshold and in March it only got to 67 per cent of category A calls within the time limit. The local target of 78 per cent was breached for eight of the 12 months and has not been met since August last year.

Mr Rendi says YAS needs more time to reach national standard because a new system for logging calls takes 90 seconds longer. It was introduced in April. He added: "YAS has worked hard to improve performance in the Barnsley area over the last year. We expect to see the benefits of additional investment over the coming months."

A spokesman for Barnsley PCT, which pays towards the service, said a plan was in place which included recruitment of more front line staff and improved technology.