An 83-old-woman who fell on a pavement in Erith yesterday (August 27) leaving blood pouring from her eye, waited over an hour for an ambulance.

Anne Robinson, of Valley View, Greenhithe, was visiting friends in the area and witnessed the incident just before noon in Cavendish Avenue.

The 75-year-old said: "I saw this grey-haired old lady fall down to the ground with a wallop. It wasn't just a little fall, it was a crash.

"I thought: 'I bet she's hurt herself there, she's really fallen on her head'.

"She had blood coming out of the side of her eye and of course she was a bit shocked."

Ms Robinson, who was driving with a friend, stopped to see how the woman was.

She said: "I rang 999 and they said: 'We are extremely busy at the moment, has she got life threatening injuries?'.

"I said I didn't know. They asked me if she was still breathing. I said yes, but she's bleeding down her face out of the side of her eye.

"The ambulance didn't arrive until an hour and fifteen minutes later.

"She was 83 and it's terrible to be left on the pavement for one hour and fifteen minutes.

"She kept saying: 'couldn't I go indoors' but we were told not to move her so she just sat there."

Ms Robinson added: "When the ambulance finally showed up they worked on her for about 20 minutes and then she was taken to hospital.

"To leave someone for that long, I think it's disgusting, really awful."

A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "We were called at 12.01pm on August 27 to Cavendish Avenue in Erith to reports of a woman who had fallen.

"The caller informed us that the patient was conscious and breathing and did not have serious injuries.

"Unfortunately we were very busy at the time and could not send an ambulance.

"An ambulance crew arrived at the scene at 1.17pm.

"The woman was taken to Darent Valley hospital not as a priority."