WEST Midlands Ambulance say that a councillor who needed an emergency ambulance is incorrect to believe that his case had been allocated top priority.

But they have apologised for the time that it took Richard Huffer from Clee to be taken to hospital in Shrewsbury. The service says that the call was a priority two incident.

But in a statement, they accept that the hour-and-a-half an ambulance to Mr Huffer was too long.

“The Trust is required to get to 90per cent of such cases within 40 minutes. On the day in question we achieved this figure in 25 minutes 10 seconds. However, it is accepted that in the other 10 per cent of cases, unfortunately, it is not possible to get to them within that time frame, though the Trust will always try and get to patients as quickly as possible.

“At the time of the call to Mr Huffer, the Trust was experiencing an extremely high level of demand. The first available ambulance was sent. Control room staff then dispatched a second ambulance that had come clear from another case which was closer, but it did not arrive until 3.01am.

“This is not the sort of care that we would want to provide to any patient, but calls are always prioritised to ensure those in most need receive the fastest response. To date, the family have not contacted the Trust to discuss the circumstances.”