FREEZING cold and in agony, a pensioner was left waiting 70 minutes for an ambulance when she suffered a suspected broken leg slipping on an icy pavement.

With the temperature below 0C (32F), worried Good Samaritans did all they could to keep the stricken 85-yearold warm and comforted during the long wait for professional help.

Despite six 999 calls, the elderly woman was left lying on the pavement for more than an hour, unable to be moved after falling over on her way to the shops yesterday morning.

With her leg twisted at almost right angles, the shivering pensioner was stranded by the side of Rownhams Road, Maybush, Southampton, following her tumble at about 9am.

Last night, a charity for the elderly and those who came to her aid branded the wait for paramedics as “disgraceful”.

“I was freezing myself, so I can only imagine how she was feeling,” said Tracy Leech, who spotted the pensioner on her way to work in a nearby chemist.

“A frail 85-year-old woman sat on ice with her leg twisted under her, the poor woman could have got hypothermia.

“She just kept saying she was cold and hurting.”

Tracy, 35, of Baron’s Mead, was one of several passers-by who stayed with the pensioner while they waited for the ambulance to take her to Southampton General Hospital – less than five minutes away.

“We kept ringing and ringing, but they just kept saying they would be with us as soon as they can,” she said.

“Eventually, they said they were moving the case up to a higher priority, but why wasn’t she high priority anyway?

“When they turned up, the paramedics apologised, but said they had only just got the call. It’s disgusting.”

Brian Hegarty, who lives just yards from where the woman fell, took blankets and a hot water bottle to help the pensioner cope with the subzero conditions.

He grew increasingly frustrated at the lack of response from the emergency services.

“Having read in the Echo about ambulances that don’t turn up, we were wondering if it ever would,” he said.

“They just kept saying she would be dealt with as soon as possible.

“We couldn’t move her, but I even said if they could send a paramedic to get her mobile I could get her in my car and take her to hospital myself.”

John Moreton, assistant director of Age Concern Hampshire, said that the 70- minute wait was “unacceptable, for medical and emotional reasons”.

“It’s an appalling situation for anyone, but especially for old people when time is of the essence,” he added.

“It seems the people who attended were very sensible and did the right thing, and I’m sure the lady will be grateful to them.”

South Central Ambulance Service was unable to provide a comment.