Ambulance delay in Sauchen death case 'due to high demand'

The Scottish Ambulance Service was not able to get to an Aberdeenshire patient who died quickly due to "high demand" for crews at the same time.

John Thomson, 65, died in Sauchen on Sunday 16 September.

Police had initially said his death was unexplained but later ruled it was not suspicious.

The Scottish Ambulance Service said pressures meant they were not able to get to Mr Thomson "as quickly as we would have liked".

It has been reported Mr Thomson had to wait 90 minutes for the nearest ambulance to get to him, from Banchory.

The service said in a statement: "This was a tragic incident and we have met with the family to offer our sincere condolences.

"At the meeting, we were able to discuss the case in detail and explain that we were experiencing exceptionally high levels of demand that evening with our crews responding to a number of very urgent, high priority calls."