A senior figure at Kent's ambulance service has stepped down to take another job offer in the north.

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust's chief executive Daren Mochrie will leave in the spring, eighteen months after he was appointed in April 2017.

The announcement comes days after a report was published stating the trust required improvement.

Most of the trust's ratings by the Care and Quality Commission had improved from last October, when the ambulance trust was rated inadequate.

The latest report, published last Thursday, said Secamb had: "Made significant progress in areas including medicines management, safeguarding training, staff understanding and management of incident reporting, the quality of the trust’s response to complaints, staff culture and had a number of outstanding areas."

Mr Mochrie said: "I am and will remain immensely proud of the real progress we have made at Secamb during the past 18 months. I know that there is still more to do but as a trust we have already made significant steps forward and I know I will be leaving the trust with a strong leadership team who are committed to making this happen.

"I have not taken this decision lightly and have greatly enjoyed my time as chief executive of Secamb. While the process to recruit my replacement is under way, I remain fully committed to Secamb and look forward to working hard with my colleagues and the wider NHS on providing the best care possible to our patients."

Recruiting to replace Mr Mochrie is currently underway, as he prepares to join North West Ambulance Service.

Secamb chair David Astley said: "While I was disappointed to hear of Daren’s decision, I am pleased that he has the opportunity to further his career by leading North West Ambulance Service from next Spring and we wish him every success.

"The fact that Daren has been recruited to such a major role reflects the high regard in which he is held nationally and is testament to the improvements he and everyone at Secamb has made since he joined the trust.

"Daren has laid the foundations for our continued development and to further improve our services to the public. I know that he will continue this work, alongside our strong executive team, during his notice period."