Ambulances are still failing to respond to emergency 999 calls on time.

Sussex Ambulance Service NHS Trust reached 71 per cent of calls within eight minutes in August.

Government guidelines stipulate that 75 per cent of calls should be reached within this time.

The 71 per cent is an increase on the month before when 69 per cent of calls were reached on time but the trust admitted improvements needed to be made.

The trust said since June it had seen an increase in emergency activity across Sussex which contributed to difficulties in reaching the standard demanded.

Ambulances dealt with more than 6,600 calls in August compared to 5,800 for the same month in 2000.

The trust said ongoing difficulties employing paramedics had caused problems but it was confident a recruitment campaign would be a success.

Part of the problem is the number of inappropriate 999 calls which the trust has to respond to.

A spokesman said: "We have to respond to all calls and so there are often cases where a crew has been sent to a house where someone is suffering from a minor problem that could have been dealt with by a GP or pharmacist.

"The problem then is their time is taken up in dealing with this when they could be answering a vital call like a stabbing somewhere else."

The trust said the majority of ambulance services in England were struggling to meet the target and it was performing better than most.

It said it was hopeful of reaching and maintaining the target within the next few months.