Ambulance workers across Kent are set to vote on whether to go-ahead with the largest walk-out the service has seen in decades.

In all, 15,000 people across England and Wales working in the sector will be balloted on the strike action today.

Union chiefs say ambulance service staff are angry with staffing levels and the government's offer of a 4% pay rise.

The acting national secretary of GMB, Rachel Harrison, said: "Ambulance workers don’t do this lightly - and this would be the biggest ambulance strike for 30 years.

"But more than 10 years of pay cuts, plus the cost-of-living crisis, means workers can’t make ends meet. They are desperate.

"But this is much more about patient safety.

"Delays of up to 26 hours and 135,000 vacancies across the NHS mean a third of GMB ambulance workers think a delay they’ve been involved with has led to a death.

"Ambulance workers have been telling the government about this. What else can they do?"

This comes after Deal pensioner Phyllis Hopley-Dodd died on the floor during a five-and-a-half hour wait for an ambulance in September.

The month before, a grieving family from Herne Bay told how ambulance delays forced them to keep their loved one in a bedroom for six hours after he passed away.

Christopher Mizon, 87, died at his home shortly after 5pm, but he could not be moved until paramedics - who arrived at about 9.30pm - could pronounce him dead.

Waiting times for ambulances have hit record levels this year, with exhausted and depleted hospital teams struggling to cope with the high demand for services.

Earlier this year, KentOnline reported how patients calling 999 after suffering serious conditions such as strokes had been left waiting an average of 39 minutes for an ambulance in March.

In July this figure rose to more than 42 minutes, before dropping to 35 minutes and 29 seconds in August.

The strike ballot begins today (October 24) and will close on November 29.

Thousands more people across other NHS trusts will also be balloted, with more votes set to follow.