North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) is introducing white emergency ambulances 
NEAS responds to a population of 2.7 million people – from Berwick to North Yorkshire with a 600 strong fleet – 200 of which are emergency ambulances. The service provides significant support to the region’s population, answering over 1.4 million 999 and 111 calls each year, attending more than 400,000 incidents, making 463,000 planned patient transport journeys.
Although NEAS already use white vehicles as part of our Patient Transport Service, they provide safe, reliable non‑emergency transport for patients. Switching to white emergency ambulances means NEAS can receive new vehicles around two months sooner than under current arrangements. This improvement will help ensure vehicles are available when needed and reduce pressure on the Trust’s budget.
The change also brings savings of approximately £1,000 per ambulance, equating to £75,000 in the current financial year based on the 75 vehicles currently on order. These savings arise because white is a standard factory colour, whereas yellow requires specialist painting and additional production time.
Chief operating officer at North East Ambulance Service, Stephen Segasby said, “Switching to white emergency ambulances is a practical, evidence‑based decision that helps us get more vehicles on the road, more quickly, for the people who need us. By choosing a colour that manufacturers can provide sooner, we can replace ageing vehicles faster and make better use of public money — saving around £1,000 per ambulance.
“Most importantly, this change does not affect safety. White ambulances meet the exact same national safety standards as yellow ones, and there is no evidence that either colour is more or less visible or more likely to be involved in an accident. What patients and staff will continue to see is the same high‑quality, fully equipped emergency ambulance service — just in a different colour. Our priority remains making sure we can reach people as quickly and safely as possible.”
All of the compliant markings that are mandated by the national ambulance specification will still be on the vehicle, which is what makes it reflective to lights and in poor lighting conditions. The types of reflective material that is used by NEAS and all of the other ambulance trusts complies with CEN 1789:2020 regulations. None of the emergency lighting systems have changed but convertors now offer a night mode, which dims the emergency lights slightly to stop other road users being dazzled. All NEAS vehicles will continue to meet CEN1789:2020 regulations, which allow ambulances to be produced in red, white or yellow.
The public can expect to see 66 white emergency ambulances on the region’s roads this coming year from March.