Berriew knitters make teddies for child 999 patients

Four "knitting nannas" have been thanked by the Welsh Ambulance Service after they "got the needle" and produced 40 woollen teddy bears.

The trauma teddies are soft toys carried on ambulances to reassure and calm distressed children.

Cath Owen, Janet Speines, Brenda Leach and Ivy Evans of Berriew Mothers' Union, a Christian group near Welshpool, took on the task.

The ambulance service said the teddies would prove invaluable.

Meryl Thelwell, the archidiaconal president of the Mothers' Union, said: "The ladies are in their 70s and 80s but have got stuck in to the task and produced these trauma teddies to a very high standard of workmanship."

David Watkins of the Welsh Ambulance Service said the trauma teddies would be invaluable.

He said it was useful to carry soft toys in ambulances to help calm distressed children.

He added: "They can also be used as a diagnostic tool. If a child is reluctant to talk about their injuries or pain you can ask them to show you on teddy.

"And teddy can also be used to demonstrate any equipment to be used. If you can distract a child this can help lessen their symptoms or pain."