SIR – I read your front page article Saturday, January 21, with some amazement. It almost exactly mirrors my own experience over the New Year.

I fell 13ft, smashing my heel bone and breaking ribs. However, the similarity ends there.

I was on my own but managed to crawl into the house to call 999. The operator summoned the ambulance service and stayed on the line talking to me until they arrived.

Although I was not counting, it was a very short time before they arrived, maybe five to ten minutes at most.

I cannot praise all concerned highly enough for their prompt and expert action. I was whisked off to Airedale Hospital in very short order.

I do not know why the delay outlined in your article occurred, but as this appears to be entirely opposite to my own experience, I feel you should print this in the interest of fairness to the ambulance service.

I am now recovering at home.

Michael Crowley, Margerison Road, Ben Rhydding, Ilkley