Ambulance service 'sorry' for delay

The North East Ambulance Service has apologised after an elderly woman had to wait almost three hours for an ambulance after falling in the street.

The woman, who has not been named, was treated by a paramedic after the incident in West Auckland, County Durham, on Monday.

An ambulance was called because she was too ill to be moved. But it took almost three hours to arrive.

Ambulance service bosses have apologised to the woman, and blamed clogged up A&E departments for the delay.

They say people attending hospital with non-urgent conditions mean mean ambulances are stacking up outside with patients awaiting admittance - and they are then unavailable to be deployed.

Peter Harris reports.