STATE-of-the-art ambulances ordered for Kent do not fit the doors of the station in Medway. The aerials for the vehicles are slightly higher than both entry and exit doors at the building in Gillingham's Star Mill Lane.

At Maidstone ambulance station, the exit from the garage is too low for the new fleet of 16 leased vehicles, and there are similar problems at Thameside, Tonbridge, and Tunbridge Wells.

Kent Ambulance Service insists it knew about the problem when it ordered the 16 vehicles and planned for the stations affected to have the door heights raised.

Renovation work at the Maidstone station will be completed by the end of March, but at Medway, building is planned, but has not yet been scheduled. The station will continue to use some of the 70 older vehicles in the county's fleet.

Colin Burgess, director of operations for the service, said: "There is no question whatever that we ordered the ambulances without being aware that the aerials raised the height of the vehicles above some of the doors. We were fully aware when we went down this route that at five of our 17 stations we would have to accommodate the increased size of the vehicles. Plans are advanced to increase the height of the doors."

He added: "The new vehicles are an exciting development for Kent Ambulance Service and will enable us to provide top-quality care to patients, which is what this is all about."

Work to the stations affected would cost a small fraction of the cost of the new ambulances, he added. The service has taken delivery of 16 vehicles to be based at ambulance stations across the county. A further 16 are to be ordered in April.

These vehicles will replace the same number of the 86 accident and emergency vehicles used by the service across Kent. The ambulances, launched last month, are based on a Mercedes chassis, with a patient compartment built by JAKAB, an Australian company with a factory in the north of England.

Each ambulance costs £80,000, which includes the vehicle and equipment, and is leased for five years. Five aerials top some station doors by a few centimetres.

Ken Davies, chairman of staff-side trade union for Kent Ambulance Service, said: "We understand building work to the stations will be part of a rolling programme to accommodate the new vehicles. Providing the work to the stations is carried out Ð and we have no reason to believe it wonÕt be Ð we welcome the addition of the new vehicles to the fleet."