AN elderly woman from Ludlow was left lying in the street for 40 minutes waiting for an ambulance after suffering a fall.

Ambulance chiefs say that the reason for the delay was because the service was dealing with three 999 calls in the town on the same day.

But this was little consolation for Vairyna Marshall who suffered a broken wrist as a result of the fall in Corve Street.

The 72-year-old, who also suffers from osteoporosis and a lung condition, says that when the ambulance eventually arrived she was told that it had come all the way from Shrewsbury.

Ms Marshall who lives in Whitefriars says that she went out on a Saturday morning to do some shopping but tripped on an uneven pavement near the bakery in Corve Street.

She tried to save herself by putting her arm out and suffered what turned out to be a broken wrist.

“I was in pain but did not know that it was a break as I did not hear anything snap,” she said.

“Fortunately two first responders who were visiting Ludlow from Redditch came to my assistance and called the ambulance.

“After 20 minutes no ambulance had arrived and they called again. It was another 25 minutes before the ambulance got to me and I was told that they had come all the way from Shrewsbury.

“It was a long time to wait and I was fortunate that it was not wet or cold.”

The pensioner was eventually taken to hospital in Shrewsbury where a temporary cast was fitted and three days later she went back for a permanent cast.

In a statement the West Midlands Ambulance service said that there were special circumstances that caused the delay.

“West Midlands Ambulance Service can confirm that it received a 999 call to a woman who had fallen in Corve Street, Ludlow, at 10.35am on Saturday, July 18,” said Claire Brown from West Midlands Ambulance.

“A local community first responder, who came across the incident and made the 999 call, was first on scene and immediately commenced assessment and treatment until an ambulance arrived at 11.15am.

“This was the third 999 call from the Ludlow area within a 15 minute period.

"The community paramedic, based in the town, and an ambulance were already with a patient who was fitting. Another ambulance was treating a patient who had collapsed and was bleeding.

"The next nearest ambulance was therefore sent to Corve Street."

She said that the call was triaged as a ‘Green 2’ call by the Emergency Operations Centre and not deemed immediately life threatening.

The trust’s target is to reach 95% of ‘Green 2’ calls within 30 minutes.

“We apologise to the patient that it took longer than we would like to get an ambulance to her on this occasion," added Ms Brown.

"We try to get to all patients as quickly as we can, but this is not always possible.”