Truro City footballer lay on pitch injured for hours

Michael Herve badly injured his shoulder during Truro City's match against Concord Rangers

An injured footballer was left lying on the pitch for more than two-and-a-half hours before an ambulance arrived to take him to hospital.

The National League South match between Truro City and Concord Rangers was abandoned after the shoulder injury at about 16:30 BST on Saturday.

Truro player Michael Herve could not be moved until an ambulance arrived at 19:10.

The South Western Ambulance Service said it responded within target times.

The midfielder was finally lifted into the ambulance at 20:00 and taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital, less than two miles from the Treyew Road ground.

An ambulance did not arrive for more than two and half hours after the injury

The Truro City physiotherapist Ian Leigh remained with the player on the pitch and used jumpers and jackets to keep him warm.

Staff managed to get him on to a stretcher, but could not lift him off the pitch because of the pain he was suffering.

The referee took the decision to abandon the match because there was no security available at the ground after 18:00, and play could not continue with a player lying on the pitch.

The Truro City physio Ian Leigh attended to the player while they waited for an ambulance

Concord Rangers, from Canvey Island in Essex, had a 620-mile round trip for the game and were leading 1-0 at the time of the injury after 75 minutes of the game.

The league will now decide on what happens, with a replay the most likely outcome.

The ambulance service said its clinical hub initially assessed the call as a category three, which gives a two-hour target response time.

This was upgraded, after a follow-up call, to a category two.

The service said it arrived within the 40-minute target for a call of this type.