AN elderly man was left lying in an alleyway with a broken shoulder after an ambulance failed to show up for almost two hours.

Alfred Golding, 94, was taking a morning stroll down an alleyway next to St Mary’s Church, in East Street, Southend, when he tripped, fell on his left shoulder and lay in agony, unable to move.

A passerby heard Mr Golding’s cries for help and called an ambulance.

However, they were left waiting for an hour and 50 minutes before a rapid response paramedic arrived, followed by an ambulance crew ten minutes later.

Alfred’s wife Doris, 84, received a phone call from the man shortly after he discovered her husband.

Doris, from Prittlewell, said: “He told me Alfred was OK and talking, but he didn’t want to move him in case he was badly injured and would call when the paramedics arrived.

“He called them three times, but it still took them almost two hours to get there.

“I was astonished it took so long, but when the paramedics arrived they were wonderful and I could not fault them.”

He was taken to Southend Hospital following the incident, on Tuesday, August 28, and remains in hospital while tests are carried out to find the extent of the damage.

Doris added: “I know what happened was not life-threatening, but I thought because of his age an ambulance would have got there quicker.

“Also, they didn’t know how bad his injuries were and it could have been much worse.”

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said the call was not classed as life-threatening and such cases required a response or a phone assessment within 60 minutes.

He said: “Unfortunately, on this occasion, we did not meet that target.

“Our control room staff and clinicians who triage and prioritise the calls that are taken via the 999 system will send the appropriate resource to the patient.

“Heart attacks, strokes, cardiac arrests and unconscious patients will take priority to calls such as falls and minor injuries, where the patient does not require an immediate response.”