A FRAIL pensioner lay fallen on the ground for more than TWO hours in Bradford city centre on Saturday until an ambulance arrived from Leeds, say people who stayed with her at the scene.

Good Samaritans Micky Barnett, his wife Patricia Sanderson saw the elderly woman attempt to enter Kirkgate shopping centre and then tumble backwards, banging her head.

They rushed to help and Mrs Sanderson rang 999 at 12.22pm - minutes before the start of Bradford City's home game with Reading - but they say it was not until 2.30pm that an ambulance finally arrived.

"The ambulanceman said he'd had to come from Leeds," said Mr Barnett, of Holme Wood, who works at Marks and Spencer's distribution centre in Bradford.

"My wife had rung four times as we waited with the old lady. It was shocking, we couldn't believe it could take so long."

Yesterday, Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust apologised for the delay, saying the incident had occurred during a period of unprecedented demand in the Bradford and Leeds areas.

Mr Barnett described how the woman, who told him she was 82, was conscious but in pain.

"She could talk and didn't look to be bleeding, but she was in pain and told me she'd had two hip replacement operations.

"Security people came out of the shopping centre to help, but because we couldn't move her she was left lying there on the cold floor in her coat, trousers and boots.

"When the ambulance arrived they then had to wait for another paramedic to come with some morphine to help her with the pain."

Mr Barnett's wife was so concerned about the woman's condition she later rang Bradford Royal Infirmary to ask about her.

He said: "BRI told her that the woman had been treated and allowed to leave hospital that evening but what if she'd suffered some serious injury, something internal that we couldn't see and just been left lying on the floor for that long?

"It's very worrying."

Speaking at the scene of the incident at Kirkgate, his wife Patricia showed her phone with details of the logged 999 calls and said she was shocked by the delayed response.

"It was absolutely disgraceful - and when the first ambulance got here they had to wait another 15 minutes for one to come with some morphine.

"It didn't seem as if the ambulance service was ready to cope with anything, whether that was a poor little old lady on the floor or a terrorist bomb," said the school caterer.

A spokesman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “We would like to apologise for the delay in responding to this patient.

“The call came in during a period of unprecedented demand; there was a 64 per cent increase in Red calls (this relates to our most seriously ill patients) in the Airedale, Bradford and Leeds area, between 1pm and 5pm. We were doing our best to respond as quickly as possible to all patients who needed our assistance.

“We would like to reassure members of the public that our main priority continues to be providing a safe, responsive and high quality service to the people of Yorkshire.”