THE military cannot replace highly trained ambulance workers and expect the service to run as normal, a union official warned today. 

Ministers held a Cobra meeting to discuss plans for armed services personnel to cover for striking workers, including Border Force and ambulance staff. 

In the run-up to the planned industrial action, a formal request has been made to the civil authorities (Maca) protocol for the NHS and Border Force to receive military help, Downing Street said. 

But Unison national officer Alan Lofthouse warned that troops could not be used to replaced ambulance workers without the service suffering. 

Unison national officer Alan Lofthouse said: “[Ambulance workers] are highly trained, urgent emergency care workers who know how to work in the NHS and the military can’t just be put in place of ambulance workers and expect that the service is going to run as normal.

“I mean it’s a great offer by the military, but it’s not going to go anywhere near stopping the strikes and walkouts that are due to happen on the 21st.”

Border Force workers’ union PCS has also raised concerns about the military not being adequately trained to do its  members’ jobs. 

Hundreds of troops are receiving training to step in at airports and ports if required. 

Thousands of ambulance workers and other NHS staff across England and Wales are due to strike on December 21 over pay, while Border Force staff will withdraw their labour from December 23 to Boxing Day. 

Strikes by ambulance workers in Scotland were called off today  after members accepted the Scottish government’s latest pay offer. Members of Unison and Unite voted by 64 per cent and 57 per cent respectively in favour of the proposal. 

A second Cobra emergency planning meeting is due on Wednesday, with the aim of finalising contingency plans before the looming wave of strikes begins. 

In the Commons, shadow defence secretary John Healey accused the Tories today of relying on the army “too often” to “bail out” ministers’ failures. 

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace responded by saying that Labour should call on its “union paymasters” to stop the strikes, claiming  that the walkouts would “ruin the lives of our soldiers and sailors” if they went ahead.

MPs also raised concerns about the impact of the plans on troops struggling during the cost-of-living crisis, with many turning to foodbanks and taking second jobs. 

Ministers suggested that soldiers could be rewarded for stepping in to cover strikes.