A PENSIONER called 999 after his wife fell down the stairs in the middle of the night — only to hear a recorded message saying the ambulance service was too busy.

Health chiefs have apologised for the delay and said they received a high volume of 'life-threatening calls' that night.

Jean Corley, aged 77, fell down the stairs and banged her head in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Her husband Eddie, aged 78, rang the emergency services as his wife was bleeding heavily — but was put through to an automated message.

The couple, who live in Bradshaw Brow, were told by the message that the service was 'experiencing a heavy demand' but after waiting on hold, they had to wake a neighbour at 2am to take them to the hospital.

Mr Corley said: “It has been engraved into people of my generation to ring 999.

“That is the first time I have had to use it and it didn’t work. It doesn’t give you a lot of confidence in it.

“I didn’t know how good or bad the situation was at the point of ringing. My wife could have been bleeding to death or lying there with two broken legs, I didn’t know.

"But I didn’t even get to explain the situation to anyone — I was just put on hold the minute I said ambulance and told I was on a waiting list.”

Mrs Corley suffered a head injury following the fall and was taken by her neighbour to the Royal Bolton Hospital.

She said: “What if someone was having a heart attack and got put through to an automated message? They would be dead.

“I know they have made cuts but this is ridiculous. Everything about the health service is wrong.”

A North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) spokesman said: “When the Trust experiences an extremely high volume of calls we use a national automated system to assist our call handlers.

"We would advise anyone who hears this message to stay on the line and their call will be answered as soon as a call handler is free.

“The number of calls the trust received on Sunday increased compared to the same date last year, with the number of life-threatening red calls up by 57 per cent."

The spokesman also apologised to the couple and said that if they contacted the trust, someone would look into their concerns further.

David Crausby MP for Bolton North East said: “This is completely unacceptable.

“If the government are going to make cuts in health spending then this is the result and it is not good enough.

“People work hard and pay their taxes and are entitled to these types of services when they need them.

“If the couple want to get in touch with me I will take their complaint further.”