STRUGGLING Wiltshire Ambulance Service has been dealt a double blow after it failed to reach government targets for response times to 999 calls.

The trust was condemned by health watchdogs when figures revealed it had only met the required standard during one month in the past year.

This poor performance has caused the beleaguered service to be stripped of both its stars in the national rating system applied by the Commission for Health Improvement.

The government says ambulances should get to at least 75 per cent of the most life-threatening cases within eight minutes.

But the Wiltshire service says this target has been impossible to reach.

Only during October were paramedics able to make the grade and ambulance bosses say they are not optimistic performance will improve in the coming months.

The failure means the Wiltshire trust is one of only five services nationwide that won no star at all in the 0-3 grading system.

Inspectors also said more needed to be done to improve staff satisfaction, training and clinical care.

But ambulance bosses are concerned the criticisms will have a devastating effect on morale and say more resources are needed before response times will improve.

"These targets are simply beyond our capabilities when you have to deal with the geography of our area," said chief executive Dennis Lauder.

"We can get to the urban areas well within our target but there are areas to the south of Salisbury and between the city and Tidworth that take longer to get to, because they are not busy enough to justify having an ambulance there all the time.

"We have had a steadily rising population but our resources have not gone up in line with that.

"This is a very disappointing outcome for all of us.

"You don't become a paramedic for the money - you do it because you want to help people and save lives.

"Setting unrealistic targets is not very helpful."

The department of health has begun to invest in Wiltshire but Mr Lauder said it would be several months before the situation could improve.

"We have people coming through but it takes several years to train," he said.

"We have 170 operational staff for the whole county, working round the clock, 365 days a year, and it is not enough."

Salisbury community health council, which represents patients, said it was worried by the inspectors' findings, but insisted that all ambulance crews offered a good service.

"Obviously, more needs to be done.

"But a lack of stars is not reflected in the positive things we hear about the service," said chief officer Mark Woodcock.

"I think this says more about the government targets than Wiltshire Ambulance Service, which is good by comparison."