LIVES could have been put at risk after a petrol theft from an ambulance used by a search and rescue team.

The fuel was siphoned from a vehicle used by the League of Venturers Search and Rescue based in Holbury.

The team are on duty every weekend from Easter to October at Lepe beach and they are also on 24-hour call to help the police with any rescue operations across the Forest.

Mr Pearce-Smith only discovered that the ambulance's fuel tank was empty when he went to clean it on Monday. He added: "If we had got a callout at 9am on Saturday in an emergency, it would not have been available. That's the only real risk that could have resulted from this and that's fairly rare.

"However it is a fact that if you have an ambulance it should be ready to use. Stealing fuel from an ambulance puts lives at risk."

But a warning is also being issued by the organisation to whoever stole the petrol as it has an additive added to the fuel that could potentially ruin a modern-day motor.

The 1970s Bedford ambulance that was donated to the charity uses leaded four star petrol which the group can no longer purchase at their local filling station in Blackfield, so they have to add an additive to what they can get to run the ambulance on.

"It would destroy a catalytic exhaust," said Philip Pearce-Smith, honorary executive officer. "Let's hope they have got a car with a catalytic exhaust because it will cost them about £500 to fix the damage."

Mr Pearce-Smith said that because of the way the fuel was siphoned the thieves could have potentially tasted the petrol and damaged their health.

The search and rescue team, which has 20 cadets and five senior members, is now considering installing closed-circuit television at their yard in Waltons Avenue.

They are linking the incident to the theft of diesel fuel from a Venturers people carrier about a week ago, which was also parked there.