TWO pensioners who visited Wiltshire to collect a dead relative's belongings were left stranded in the freezing cold for eight hours by their breakdown company.

Andy and Margaret Stevens made the 90-mile trip from Bracklesham in Chichester to pick up Mr Stevens’ brother’s belongings from his canal boat in Caen Hill Marina, Devizes, following his death in December.

But their journey turned into a nightmare when their electric car began to run out of power.

The couple, both aged 70, hurried to a charging point at Station Road car park, only to find it out of use.

They fell short when they tried to make it to the next nearest charging point in Melksham and were forced to pull over next to a field between the two towns just after 2.30pm.

They immediately called the AA for help, as they are on the breakdown company’s priority list, but were still waiting almost eight hours and 10 phone calls later.

Mr Stevens said: “At 4.30pm they called us to say somebody would be there at 4.45pm but that came and went.

“We phoned them nine times and every time they told us someone was on their way. It was two degrees, so we were freezing cold and had no heating.

“All in all, they were atrocious. We were getting worried that we were going to be left there all night. You’re sitting there hour after hour wondering what is happening and it’s unsettling.”

Eventually, they found a nearby pub then returned to the car to meet a mechanic at 9pm, but no help arrived for over another hour.

The pair were eventually rescued by a breakdown mechanic called Matthew, at 10.35pm, who took Mr and Mrs Stevens to a charging point, and allowed them to sit in his cab while they waited for the car to charge. They made it home by 3am.

In an email to Mr Stevens, the AA admitted he experienced an “unacceptably long wait for help” and offered him an apology and a £50 cheque.

A spokesperson said: “We do all we can to get to our members as quickly as possible, but there are times when we experience higher demand for our service, especially in severe weather conditions, and this can lead to delays.

“We have written to extend our apologies and offered compensation, which we hope will go some way towards restoring Mr Stevens’ faith in the AA.

“We are also aware of the lack of charging infrastructure in Devizes and actively campaign for more reliable charge points.”