AUTOMOTIVE Leasing has won a five-year contract to supply 144 vehicles on contract hire to the Scottish Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The service - which employs 3,000 staff and is the largest ambulance trust in the UK - switched from outright purchase to contract hire to increase efficiency.

Worth about £6 million, the contract represents a significant upgrading of the trust's accident and emergency fleet. The new vehicles comprise 64 Mercedes Sprinter 312D ambulances, 37 Renault Master patient transport vehicles, 10 Volkswagen Caravelle patient transport vehicles, 13 Ford Escort vans and 20 Escort and Mondeo cars. The contract hire package includes full maintenance, which will be carried out at the trust's in-house workshop facilities.