AN OVERWHELMING majority of ambulance workers are suffering stress due to the increasing demands of the job and government cuts, health union Unison warned yesterday.

Long hours and staff shortages are stretching paramedics to the limit, research conducted by the union found.

A poll of nearly 3,000 workers found that almost three-quarters are suffering from sleep problems, 72 per cent said they feel irritable as a result and experienced mood swings, and more than half are gripped with anxiety.