Ambulance staff today take their concerns to Parliament to alert politicians to ongoing disputes within their trust.

Around 20 frontline East of England Ambulance Service (EEA) workers, the majority from Norfolk, leave Longwater, near Norwich, at 9am this morning to meet MPs amid concerns over late finishes and trust leadership.

Fraer Stevenson, Unison's east of England branch secretary, said: 'We want to ask for MPs' help and to make people nationally more aware of our issues.'

A trust spokesman said addressing late finishes was a 'top priority.'

The issue occurs when emergency calls are received just before shifts end, meaning potential extra hours of work.

To tackle the issue, the trust is piloting a scheme but Ms Stevenson said it did not impact on enough staff.

'Providing emergency responses for 12 hours is very demanding,' she said.

'It is right that at the end of their 12-hour shift staff can go home to rest.

'I took this issue to the board in April and we've not really made any inroads into solving the problem.'

A petition with around 600 signatures, most of which are from EEA staff, will be handed in calling for health minister Jeremy Hunt to keep trust chief executive Anthony Marsh in post.

The spokesman said: 'We already have the most progressive late finish policies in place and we have been working closely with UNISON on trying to reduce late finishes.

'In addition, as hundreds more frontline staff are recruited and join the front line, and hundreds of existing staff are upskilled, this will further ease the pressure on staff.'

They said Dr Marsh was brought in to accelerate improvements and that the time was right to recruit a new chief executive.

Are you affected by late finishes in the service? Email nicholas.carding@archant.co.uk