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The creation of an Olympic road network will put the public at risk by slowing down emergency vehicles during the 2012 Games, ambulance and police chiefs have warned ministers.
The London Ambulance Service and the Met say traffic restrictions planned for the Olympics and the provision of fast lanes for athletes and officials will harm their ability to respond quickly to call-outs.
In a submission to the Government, ambulance chiefs warned restrictions would have a "significant impact" on Londoners living near the routes. The Met said emergency response times could be affected, and predicted "significant increases in congestion".
In another document sent to ministers, the force said potential problems were so bad it could not support the planned Olympic road network.
The Met also warned there was "little scope" for short-cut lanes that would be barred to the public - named "Zil lanes" after the roads reserved for Soviet Politburo cavalcades in Moscow - because many streets had only one lane in each direction and needed to be kept open for emergency vehicles.
It listed streets scheduled to become Olympic routes that it said were unsuitable because they either "do not appear to go anywhere", will be closed by the time of the Games or, in one case, was a "private and gated" service road.
The warnings are in the LAS and the Met's official responses to a Department for Transport consultation on the planned Olympic route network.
The network is intended to allow athletes and officials to reach venues swiftly and will use restrictions including blocking off parts of some roads and changes to traffic lights. Drivers will be fined up to £5,000 for breaking rules. The Department for Transport, which says it is willing to consider changing its plans, insists that the network will be "critical to the Games' success" and will be the best way to provide "safe, secure and reliable" transport for the "Games family".
However, the LAS said the proximity of hospitals and ambulance stations to the routes meant "a significant proportion" of journeys could be delayed. It said: "Any restrictions on access to care, either by emergency or non-emergency ambulance or by public and private transport, will have a significant impact on both short and long-term health consequences."
Ambulance chiefs also said disruption to community health services would lead to unnecessary hospital admissions, making emergency wards "over-burdened". Despite the criticisms, a spokeswoman for the Met and the LAS insisted they remained willing to work with the Government.
The Department for Transport said its blueprint was only the "first stage" of planning. A spokeswoman said: "Emergency services will be able to use Olympic lanes during an emergency as they can any other lane."
Reader views (3)
How much congestion are emergency vehicles going to cause anyway?
- W R Stevenson, London SE26
Do the officials think they are more important than anyone else? Do they think we should force emergency services off the road to make way for them? Just who do they think they are? From what I can glean they are a number of "has beens" who were once able to run, jump or throw things. Such "achievements" have done little to add to the prosperity of this country - as is evidenced by the state of our economy - we are now bankrupt.
- R.F.York, Yorks, UK
I am sorry, the lives, health and safety of the citizens of a host nation must take precedence over any event staged for profit or for show.
The officials must live on site and lump it !
- James, City of London
