A 20-year-old has been charged with kidnapping after an ambulance was allegedly stolen with a police officer and paramedic inside.

The early morning drama happened after police were called to assist an ambulance crew dealing with an agitated person on Elles Rd in Invercargill at about 2.25am on Monday.

While a police officer and an ambulance officer were speaking with a man in the back of the ambulance, it’s alleged that he jumped into the driver’s seat of the ambulance and began driving.

The vehicle travelled about a block, police say, before the police officer was able to knock it out of gear and stop it.

After what police say was “a brief scuffle”, a 20-year-old Invercargill man was taken into custody.

He has been charged with two counts of kidnapping, driving while suspended, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, failing to stop and two counts of resisting police.

Relieving Southland Area Commander Inspector Matt Scoles said the incident could have been tragic.

“Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but there was a risk of serious injury to the people in that ambulance, none of whom were restrained, and a serious risk to the public,” he said.

“This was an unpredictable situation and both the police and ambulance officers involved acted swiftly, doing what they could to end it before anything worse happened.”

Enquiries into the incident are ongoing.

As the case is before the court, police say they are unable to comment further.