IT’S the latest weapon to help Weymouth ambulance staff respond as quickly as possible to 999 calls this summer – a mountain bike, complete with a blue light and siren.

The bike, with paramedic Matt Care in the saddle, will be operating in the resort from today until the end of August.

The Cycle Response Unit (CRU) is fully equipped and carries oxygen and a cardiac defibrillator.

If successful this year it will be rolled out as a permanent resource every summer and potentially deployed for out of season events, such as the Christmas shopping period.

Weymouth is the only resort where South Western Ambulance will be introducing the bike this year.

Matt, 23, said: “The bike was run in previous years but it was phased out. I’ve lived in Weymouth my whole life and I thought it was the perfect place for it.

“It’s quite a flat town with the population increasing significantly in the summer, and with the roadworks it seemed like the golden opportunity.

“The traffic has played a major factor in it – we knew it was going to be bad but I don’t think anybody knew how bad.

“The bike will be based at the town centre, beach and harbourside where we get quite a dense population with the tourists.”

Matt will carry a radio to respond directly to 999 calls, also liaising with the RNLI beach lifeguards and the minor injuries unit at Weymouth Community Hospital.

Matt operated the CRU when it was used in the town previously, and said it proved to be an invaluable resource.

“We would often be arriving on the scene while the caller was still on the line to 999,” he said.

“And we were coming across incidents where an ambulance hadn’t been called and offering advice or referring minor injuries to a GP, ultimately saving an ambulance being called.”

On World Cup match days and other major events, Matt will be patrolling around Weymouth with police officers, who also use bikes to get around the town.