An elderly woman feared she was going to die when she was left lying on a freezing pavement with a broken hip for five hours waiting for an ambulance.

Winifred Soanes, 95, took a tumble in Christchurch High Street, Dorset, while out with her husband Andrew, 92, and was unable to move due to the pain. Several members of the public called 999, but were told she “was not a priority”. Instead, staff at a nearby Mountain Warehouse store gave her sleeping bags and charity shops gave blankets and hot water bottles to keep Winifred warm. She fell over at 2.30pm and an ambulance did not arrive until 7.45pm and took her to hospital where she remains.

David Lovell, who saw her fall and was the first to call for an ambulance, said: "I can't describe how cold it was, and as it got dark, the temperature dropped really quickly. She was lying on the cold pavement and we couldn't move her because she was in huge amounts of pain."

Local businesses came to the 95-year-old's aid (

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To add insult to injury, Andrew has developed a chest infection as a result of being out in the cold so long and cannot visit his wife in hospital. Winifred was eventually taken to Poole Hospital and is waiting for a specialist operation for her injuries.

Jennifer Baylis, who was working in a charity shop, said: "I can't tell you how upsetting it was, she actually said 'I'm going to die here tonight'. She was in a phenomenal amount of pain and in such a vulnerable position, on a cold floor, totally reliant on complete strangers.

"We were all distressed that there was no first responder available, no police officer, literally no one available to help for over five hours. You feel so helpless, I was so angry that they were in this position. It shouldn't be happening in this day and age. The NHS are fantastic once help is there. We know how hard they work. But something went very very wrong to leave a 95-year-old lady on the pavement of a high street at night."

Husband Andrew added: "The situation was dire, but it's great to know that when they need to, the community all pull together to help." A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service, said: "We are sorry we were not able to provide a timely response to this patient. Any occasion where the care we provide falls below the high standards our patients deserve and rightly expect is unacceptable.

"Handover delays at emergency departments remain one of our biggest challenges. To ensure our ambulances are available to attend the next emergency call within the community, we need to be able to hand patients over within the 15-minute national target. We continue to work hard with our partners in the NHS and social care, to do all we can to improve the service patients receive."