AN elderly woman knocked down by a scooter was left lying in the street for 79 minutes while she waited for an ambulance.

Health chiefs have apologised for the delay but said they experienced an unusually high volume of calls because it was bonfire night.

The 78-year-old was injured after being hit by a black scooter in Crown Lane in Horwich.

The accident happened at 5.36pm but an ambulance only arrived on the scene to take her to hospital at 6.55pm.

She had been knocked over by a 20-year-old motorcyclist near to the junction of Crown Lane and Hilton Avenue.

A police spokesman said the elderly woman suffered serious injuries to her head, shoulder and ankle and was bleeding at the scene.

The first responder paramedic did not arrive at the scene until 6.43pm and they were unable to move the injured woman.

An ambulance then arrived at 6.55pm to take her to the Royal Bolton Hospital.

The North West Ambulance Service has issued a formal apology to the woman for the delay.

A spokesman said: “We are very sorry the patient had to wait this length of time for an ambulance and hope that she is recovering well after this incident.

“The trust is continuing to receive a high number of 999 calls and on November 5 we experienced a 5.7 per cent increase.

“We would like to thank everyone who supported the patient at the scene of the incident until the ambulance arrived.

“If the patient or her family would like to discuss the incident we would be grateful if they could to contact us so we can look into the matter further.”

After the crash, Greater Manchester Police closed a section of Crown Lane — near to the junction with Hilton Avenue.

The delay in the ambulance arriving meant that the road remained closed until after 9.30pm.

A police spokesman said: “We were called to the scene of an accident in Crown Lane where a 78-year-old woman had been hit by a scooter.

“She suffered serious injuries to her head, shoulder and ankle and was taken to hospital.

“No arrests were made in relation to the incident.”

Residents have previously expressed concern about the dangers of the Crown Lane area.

Horwich councillor Kevin McKeon said: “Issues have been raised about Crown Lane at area forum meetings.

“One of the main problems is that cars park on both sides which leads to a narrow passageway for drivers.

“I am very shocked and saddened to hear about this lady’s injuries and she recovers soon.”

North West Ambulance Service was called to 1,680 incidents in Greater Manchester on Thursday of which 727 were related to firework injuries.

The service said the volume of calls was up 5.7 per cent on the previous night.

Director of operations Derek Cartwright said: “Once again we have seen a rise in calls on bonfire night.

"This rise meant some people had to wait longer than we would have liked for an ambulance response.

"We attended a number of preventable incidents related to bonfire night. Inappropriate use of fireworks and injuries caused by sparks from fires were seen across the region."