A judge has cleared two ambulance drivers working for the Jewish emergency service Hatzola of illegally using blue lights and sirens.

Michael Issler and Mordechai Bamberger, of north Manchester, were charged with driving their own vehicles fitted with a siren without permission.The two men were attending a traffic accident in Prestwich last year.

Dismissing the charges at Bury Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Paul Richardson said: “On this particular occasion, the vehicles were being used for ambulance purposes”.

The case does not set a legal precedent, but may help to stop prosecutions of non-NHS ambulance services which do not use standard ambulance vehicles. The decision may also see Manchester Police drop prosecutions against three other Hatzola members.