EMERGENCY crews spent more than three hours moving a 30-stone disabled woman from her Southampton home where she had spent the previous three days stuck on her living room floor.

Firefighters had to cut open the main window of the front of the house so that they could move Joan Voke on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance that took her to Southampton General Hospital.

Her husband Douglas said his cries for help to Southampton social services more than 24 hours beforehand were ignored The drama began when 63-year-old Joan, who has severely ulcerated legs, became stuck in her chair in the living room and could not move.

Paramedics and firefighters transferred the former laundry worker, who can only walk short distances, to another chair.

However, as she was not sitting properly she fell forward on to her knees an hour later.

Afterwards Douglas and a neighbour managed to move Joan on to a mattress in the same room.

Due to a further fall paramedics were called several hours later and followed the couple's instructions to make Joan comfortable on the mattress once again.

When Douglas phoned the fire service a couple of hours later seeking help to move his wife he was told that they would not come out because it was not deemed a medical emergency.

The following day he called Southampton social services and it was only more than 24 hours later that help became available - after they were contacted by the Daily Echo.

Eventually social services representatives, paramedics and 11 firefighters attended the couple's home with a special piece of lifting equipment spent more than three hours moving her out of the house in Ampthill Road, Shirley.

A Southampton City Council social services spokesman said they could not comment on the case because of confidentiality.