A fast-pedaling paramedic who gets to her patients in an average of six minutes has finished in the top 20 at a global cycling event.

Carol Reeves, from Dartford, cycles an average of 20 miles per shift and operates in busy areas difficult to travel through in a car or ambulance.

The 44-year-old started working as a paramedic in East London in 2006 before moving to Waterloo to cover Central London by bike.

She has been in the London Ambulance Service for 17 years after a career in the British Army and is currently a medic in the pioneering Cycle Response Unit (CRU).

The CRU is a team of 40 paramedics who carry 75 kilograms of equipment.

More than 50 per cent of the patients they treat can be discharged at the scene which helps take pressure off ambulance crews.

This year, Carol qualified for the Gran Fondo UCI Cycling World Championships, one of the world’s biggest competitions for both professional and amateur cyclists, to represent Team GB in Glasgow.

Only the top 25% of riders from 27 qualifying events held around the world were invited to compete in Scotland.

Carol tackled the challenging roads of Highland Perthshire outpacing 180 of the world’s best women riders.

It took her five hours and 10 minutes to cycle 100 miles, climbing 6,000 ft.

She said: “Getting to the finish line was a bit like racing to save the life of a patient.

“You need to have the confidence that you are going to make it.

“Pedalling fast to get to emergencies on a bike that has lots of medical equipment packed into panniers definitely helped me prepare for the competition.

“It was amazing to achieve such a result. All that was going through my head was ‘please, don’t come last!’”