AMBULANCE chiefs have apologised after an elderly woman was left waiting more than an hour for paramedics to arrive when she collapsed in Romsey town centre.

The woman, believed to be in her 80s, crashed to the ground in Market Place while walking in the town.

Members of the public rushed to help the woman – who remained conscious throughout and was complaining of neck and knee pains.

But it took an hour and 16 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to take her to hospital.

Now a spokesman for South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) says the delays were due to crews dealing with a large volume of life-threatening calls at that time.

But he stressed that callers had established that she was in a stable and non-life-threatening condition before setting their priorities.

The woman fell outside Jones’ at 12.20pm on Wednesday and a number of residents trained in first aid helped cover her with a blanket to keep her warm.

She was taken to Southampton General Hospital by ambulance at 1.36pm for treatment for minor injuries.

A SCAS spokesman said that crews aim to reach non-life-threatening calls within 60 minutes and said: “We would like to get there sooner but we were very busy with a large number of calls and unfortunately we have to prioritise those in the most need.

"We have limited resources and our demand is going up year after year.”

A man who fell from his bicycle shortly after passing the scene was escorted to hospital by police after complaining of rib and chest pains.