South Central Ambulance Service declared a critical incident due to extreme pressure early on Wednesday morning.

“Our staff are working extremely hard to respond to calls and manage the situation and we continue to prioritise those patients with life-threatening injuries and illnesses,” it said on Twitter.

“Declaring a critical incident means we are able to focus our resources on those patients most in need and communicates the pressure we are under to our patients and health system partners.”

The service asked the community to only call 999 in a life-threatening or serious emergency.