AN elderly woman was left lying in a road for almost an hour and a half waiting for an ambulance after she was hit by a car, her family has claimed.

Margaret Freeborn was going to a meeting at Bag Lane Methodist Church, Atherton, when she was hit by a Nissan Juke as she crossed Mealhouse Lane at the pelican crossing at around 7.50pm on November 19.

A witness called the emergency services and police shut the road.

But Mrs Freeborn’s family are angry that an ambulance did not turn up until after 9pm.

Daughter Tania Freeborn-Hulme, who lives near where the accident happened and ran to the scene, said: “She remembers pressing the button on the crossing and getting halfway across the road but after that she doesn’t remember anything. A witness called an ambulance immediately, yet one did not arrive until around 9.20pm.

“No one came, no rapid response, no paramedics — no one. She was lying on the floor for almost two hours with only witnesses and bystanders to help.

“She was bleeding from her head and unconscious at first. The hospital couldn’t believe that she’d not broken anything other than her nose. Her ligaments in both legs are torn and she is black and blue all over.

“It was devastating seeing her like that. We are angry that she could be left in the road all that time in pain, the police arrived fairly quickly but couldn’t do anything other than stop the traffic.

“We were told that an ambulance had been allocated at 9.07pm but it still did not arrive until about 9.20pm.”

Mrs Freeborn, aged 69, was taken to Royal Bolton Hospital and then transferred to Salford Royal Hospital where she is still receiving treatment for her injuries.

Her brother Glyn Williams, who also lives nearby but was not able to get through the police road blocks, said: “There were police everywhere but she was just left there crying in the middle of the road because there was no one else there.”

The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust confirmed that they received the call at 7.47pm but said the crew arrived on scene at 9.07pm.

A spokesperson for NWAS said: “We understand that waiting for an ambulance can be distressing and we are sorry for any upset caused to the patient and their family.

“We take complaints about our service extremely seriously and would urge the patient or family to contact us as soon as possible so we can investigate the reasons behind the delay.”

A police spokesman said they were treating it as an accident and they would not be taking any action against the driver.