BROMLEY lives are being put "at risk" because of overstretched ambulance services, according to a coroner in the case of a woman who died in a house fire.

Yvonne Fisher took an overdose of co-codamol at her flat in Ranmore Path, St Mary Cray, on July 21 at around 9pm before calling for an ambulance.

However the ambulance did not arrive until 10.52pm - by which time a deadly fire was raging - thought to have been started by a cigarette.

In the mean time, police had been forced to call again for an ambulance - but the dispatch of paramedics was cancelled by the system.

The 45-year-old sadly died in the fire, leading coroner Dr Roy Palmer to heavily criticise London Ambulance Service (LAS).

In a letter to LAS chief executive Ann Radmore, he wrote: "On the basis of the evidence I heard and on the balance of probability, Ms Fisher would have survived had the ambulance crew been able to attend within 30 minutes or indeed at any point before the fire broke out.

"I understand this situation remains unchanged today and accordingly the local population, for which I have some responsibility, continues to be at risk of a repetition of the events about which I write to you."

Ms Radmore replied to the coroner, in April this year, two months after receiving his letter, saying the "root cause" of the situation was "demand exceeding capacity."

Meanwhile, a News Shopper freedom of information request obtained an LAS report describing the moments Ms Fisher made the 999 call.

'Just get somebody to me please'

It stated: "The Emergency Medical Dispatcher asks if the patient is ok and the patient says no, before saying ‘just get somebody to me please’.

"They tell her that the help has been arranged and that help would be with her as soon as possible before the call concludes.

The event was investigated by the LAS and classed as a 'serious incident' shortly after News Shopper asked for details of what happened, two days after the accident.

Six months after we first requested the incident report the LAS agreed it was of public interest and disclosed it.

The document records the incident as having a ‘catastrophic’ impact rating and a likelihood score of 4/5 meaning it is expected to occur at least monthly.

A LAS spokesman said: "The review of our procedures has included ensuring they are fully in line with our call-taking and dispatch system that was introduced in 2012.

"We secured some extra funding during the winter to help manage the high level of demand during that very busy period.

"Since then we have received additional investment for this financial year (2013/14) which will be used to recruit 240 frontline staff."