The daughters of an elderly woman who died after she was catapulted from her wheelchair when her ill-equipped private ambulance crashed say "no other family should suffer like us".

Great grandmother Annetta Elliston was being taken to The BMI Garden Hospital in Hendon when her ambulance collided with the car in front and a second car slammed into the back of it in Watford Way, Edgware.

Daughters Jackie Bell and Erica Greene said the accident would have been very minor, but because their mother was not properly secured she was "catapulted out of the wheelchair, hit her head, went into cardiac arrest and subsequently died".

The 85-year-old, who had a urinary tract infection and dehydration, was travelling with her husband Bernard, 94 at the time, who was wearing a seatbelt and survived the crash uninjured.

The ambulance was not fitted with seatbelt for Mrs Elliston, who was in a wheelchair, and the driver also failed to fasten the chair's lap strap - the chair's manual states both should have been used.

Mrs Greene, 62, who lives in Edgware, described the ambulance, which was sent by the hospital, as a converted transit van the driver had done up himself.

The driver also had no CPR training and therefore was unable to help Mrs Elliston when she went into cardiac arrest - having to wait instead for the NHS ambulance to arrive.

He was jailed last month for causing death by dangerous driving after the accident in October, 2013.

But Mrs Bell and Mrs Greene said they were shocked to hear during his trial that there was no legislation in place for non-emergency private ambulances.

Mrs Greene said: "Apparently anyone can set themselves up as a private ambulance, transporting patients to and from hospitals, hospices and nursing homes.

"Indeed other than the usual MOT laws applying to all vehicles, there are no guidelines or laws in place at all to ensure that the vehicle is correctly fitted with the appropriate equipment and no checks are made on the driver as to his competence or qualifications.

"The private hospital arranged the ambulance for us, and at no time did we consider that the vehicle being sent would not be fit for purpose."

Mrs Bell, 66, of Bedford, said their mother might still be alive if the vehicle had been checked for having the correct equipment.

She said: "If there were proper laws in place to ensure that vehicles being used for this purpose were properly regulated, then our mother would not have died in such a needless and horrific way."

The sisters launched a campaign this week for better legislation on private ambulances and have written to the Prime Minister, Jeremy Hunt MP, Bob Blackman MP and the BMI Garden Hospital for support.

They say private ambulances should be registered and checked to make sure they are fit for use, drivers should be taught basic first aid including CPR and that organisations which use private ambulances should be made to take responsibility for the safety of their patients by contracting companies with vehicles that are fit for purpose.

Mrs Greene said: "She shouldn't have died in such a fashion. We don't want any other family to go through this. We want to get new legislation passed so no other family will suffer as we did."

Mrs Bell added: "It was a horrible way to die. And our dad was sat right next to her, he saw the whole thing. In his last few months we saw how he suffered, he must have seen it every time he closed his eyes.

"They were married 66 years, they were a very devoted couple. Dad really died that day, he may have died five months later, but he died that day."