AN elderly lady fell on the pavement in the middle of Clock Face village, damaging her face and causing possible injury to other parts of her body. Passers byand neighbours were quickly there to help and coats and blankets were provided to keep her warm while waiting for an ambulance.

The initial 999 call was made at 4.50 pm last Wednesday.

An hour later, I became aware of the situation, which occurred opposite my house. Several more calls to the emergency ambulance service had been made since the initial call, with no ambulance responding. I dialled 999.

Others tending the lady also dialled 999. We were all assured that it was a priority situation, but demand was high at that particular time. Two qualified nurses who happen to live in the village and were tending to the lady as best they could discovered that she was diabetic, so tested her blood sugar levels, which were thankfully OK.

A paramedic arrived at 6.37pm, claiming that he had received the call "four minutes ago" (so much for priority).

This elderly lady lay on a wet pavement in cold, windy and wet conditions for an hour and forty five minutes before receiving professional attention.

The worrying aspect to this totally unacceptable response time is that the annual NHS Winter crisis hasn’t even started yet. More worrying is that injured lady’s ordeal could have happened to any of us.

Ernie Bate,

Clock Face