A FRAIL pensioner was left waiting almost three hours for an ambulance after suffering a fall at the ferry terminal in Largs.

Ambulance service chiefs have said they plan to contact the 89-year-old woman to apologise and blamed a high volume of call outs for the delay.

But a Largs councillor has demanded a full probe - and a detailed explanation - after labelling the incident as 'unacceptable'.

The call for an investigation follows the woman's tumble on Saturday near to the terminal entrance.

Councillor Alex Gallagher has now written to the mercy service asking for more detail about the reasons behind the delay.

He said: "I have written to the Scottish Ambulance Service seeking an explanation as to why an old lady was left lying on the ground waiting for an ambulance for such a long time on what was quite a cold day.

"I don't think it is a normal situation and I am trying to find out from the Scottish Ambulance Service the reason for it, as I personally don't find it acceptable.

"When I became aware of the incident on the day, I phoned the ambulance myself and was told they couldn't give me an estimated time to respond.

"The lady had been there after taking a fall for hours and she could have caught hypothermia. I drove to the pier myself at 3.30pm and saw that she was being treated by an ambulance that had just arrived. I would hope this isn't a normal situation.

"Two nurses from the Garnock Valley had managed to attend to her during the wait and a member of the public put a jacket under her head.

"There was enough space for the cars to get round her and get on to the ferry terminal - but she had been there for more than two and a half hours

"I have asked the Scottish Ambulance Service for a full explanation and as to whether this is a normal response time for the town."

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson told the News that they were reaching out to the woman to say sorry.

They added: "We apologise for this delay in responding. Unfortunately at the time of this incident, the high level of demand we were experiencing, as well as the volume of other significantly unwell patients, meant our crews were working flat out to help our sickest patients.

"However, we equally understand that in this circumstance how distressing it must have been for the person and we will be contacting them to apologise.”