Now ambulance crews get 'dirty bomb' alarms

The pager-size devices, which sound an alarm if they detect radiation, have been supplied by the Department of Health to all of the UK's ambulance trusts, at a cost of £2.5million.

Hundreds of ambulance workers are already equipped with the meters, similar to those used in nuclear power stations and naval dockyards.

And it is thought that thousands of other employees will be given the monitors in the coming months.

The electronic dosimeters, as they are called, were first recommended by the Department of Health nearly two years ago in a document that outlined how health workers should deal with radioactive incidents, such as terrorist attacks.

The threat of terrorists using dirty bombs - devices which contain radioactive material as well as more conventional explosives - has grown rapidly in the past few years, according to the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency.

The IAEA's records show a dramatic rise in the level of smuggling of radiological materials, defined as radioactive sources that could be used in dirty bombs but not nuclear bombs.

The dosimeters produce a reading of how much radiation there is on a person or object and sound an alarm when levels become dangerously high.

The monitors, which are worn all the time by emergency workers, would be invaluable not only in the aftermath of any dirty bomb attacks by terrorists, but also following road accidents involving vehicles transporting radioactive material or leaks at a nuclear power plant.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Every frontline member of staff is being issued with them.

"It will alert the wearer to the presence of ionising radiation. It is an extra safety device for staff."

About 150 ambulance workers in the south central region, which covers Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, have been using the devices for the past nine months.

In May, the North-East ambulance service began providing the meters to its emergency response teams and in Yorkshire around 1,600 employees will begin using the monitors by the end of the year.

Police officers and fire crews have been using the dosimeters since 2003 and there were calls for ambulance crews to be issued with the monitors following the July 7 terrorist attacks on London two years ago.