AN ELDERLY woman was left waiting more than two hours for an ambulance today after falling and injuring her leg.

June Wyatt tripped on the pavement while walking past the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery towards the traffic lights on Victoria Road.

An ambulance was called at noon today and the 83-year-old laid on the hard, cold concrete in agony while staff from the charity shop covered her with blankets to protect against the wind.

A staff member from ARC offered tea and water to June to keep her warm and hydrated while concerned passer-by asked what they could do to help.

As more than an hour passed with no ambulance in sight, her daughter Paula Wyatt ran into the Adver’s offices across the road furious that the emergency services had still not arrived.

She said: “I’m so upset and angry, this is ridiculous, she has dementia and she’s been left in this state on the cold floor, it’s awful.

“I got a call from my mum’s retirement housing manager saying she’d fallen over and was in shock, I thought that my mum would be in an ambulance by the time I got there and I can’t believe she’s still here.

“I’d bring my car over and get her inside but we can’t move her in case it causes more pain.”

June said: “The pain’s getting worse, I’m in agony and I feel sick.”

Paula added: “I appreciate that the ambulance service is stretched and they’re doing the best they can but the whole system is bad.

“I’ve read other stories of this happening, like the woman outside the cinema who had to wait three hours for an ambulance, it’s terrible.”

Last month, a pensioner was left waiting on the ground outside Empire Cinema in Greenbridge Retail Park for hours after an ambulance had been called.

Like June, that pensioner had also had a leg injury and so was not classed as a priority call and bystanders gave her pillows and blankets to keep her comfortable while they waited.

Sharon Thomas was visiting the museum when she saw June fall and hurried over to help.

She said: “I saw this lady with her friend walking along when her knee buckled and she fell, I’ve been here ever since

“Everyone has been so helpful, the hairdresser's, the Art Gallery, the Crystal Spirit shop, but we still feel helpless waiting here.”

An ambulance finally arrived at 2.30pm, two and a half hours after the original call, and took June to Great Western Hospital.

A spokesperson for South West Ambulance Service said: “South Western Ambulance Service is very sorry for the delay in responding to this lady.

“At the time of this call, the demand on the ambulance service in Swindon was extremely high with a large number of serious life-threatening, time critical incidents, including patients with chest pain, patients with serious breathing difficulties, including a young child, and a very young child with a suspected case of sepsis.

“There were also three other falls at the time.

“Whilst we will always try to reach our patients in a timely manner, we must prioritise those with the greatest clinical need.”

Under the new ambulance response programme, nine out of 10 urgent calls must be responded to in 120 minutes and nine out of 10 less urgent calls must be responded to in 180 minutes.