LEADERS of Hampshire's 999 service have come under fire after it emerged they misled the public over the shock departure of its chief executive.

On Wednesday ambulance bosses announced that Richard Mawson had handed in his resignation, citing personal reasons.

Now the ambulance trust's chairman, Sarah Murray, has formally admitted the 46-year-old was dismissed by board members.

One ambulance worker told the Daily Echo Mr Mawson was asked to clear his desk, hand in his company car keys and leave the building immediately after last Tuesday's confidential board meeting.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley and ambulance union leaders have hit out at trust chiefs.

They say the public was misled about the state of top-level ambulance management, responsible for a £17m annual budget and 125,000 emergency calls each year.

Mrs Gidley said the trust, which is funded by taxpayers, "messed up" the announcement.

"It's always a mistake in public life to say anything but the truth. You have to give the truth because there are always people who know what's really going on.

"Not being in the habit of terminating the contract of somebody senior, the board decided that they could let him say he was leaving for personal reasons. They were trying to be kind to him.

"But I do think it was the wrong way to handle it. It wasn't thought through fully."

Unison's southern Hampshire spokesman Liam Sizer, who represents a large number of ambulance staff in the area, said workers had lost confidence in the management following the debacle.

"The executive of the shop steward's committee doesn't feel very happy that the board and the management didn't feel able to come clean with us in the first place about Mr Mawson's dismissal.

"How can we trust them completely if they're not open with us on something that they can't keep a secret anyway?" he said.

An ambulance spokesman denied that there had been confusion surrounding Mr Mawson's departure.

She admitted Mr Mawson, who had been in the £70,000-a-year job for 11 years, had not approached the board offering his resignation.

"Mr Mawson's contract was terminated by the board and the reasons for termination were personal," she added.

She claimed union leaders were told immediately and all staff were alerted by e-mail. The county's ambulance service has hit the headlines in the past because of previous failures to meet nationally-set targets.