AN injured woman was left lying underneath her mobility scooter for two hours after a cyclist knocked her into the road.

Stroke survivor Marie Lovage, 45, was riding on the path in Hawthorn Avenue when the cyclist struck her right side and toppled her into the carriageway.

The full weight of the scooter landed on top of her and she suffered three cracked ribs, a fractured ankle and a badly bruised arm.

The cyclist, several passers-by and police officers stopped to help but they were instructed not to move her.

Having landed near a bus stop, Marie lay in the road while buses dropped off passengers and swerved around her.

The ambulance service logged the call as green, meaning it was serious but not life-threatening, and the ambulance should have arrived within 30 minutes.

After the incident at around 10am on July 17, the ambulance finally arrived at 11.56am.

She had a cast fitted on her fractured ankle and she is still taking morphine for the pain three weeks on.

Marie, who lives in the area, has suffered five strokes in the last three years, leaving her with no sensation from the waist down on one side and she relies on her scooter to get around.

She said: “The cyclist came out of a lane, going quite fast, and pushed me right over.

“I was in so much pain.

“He stopped straight away and I said I needed an ambulance.

“The police were chasing up the ambulance over the phone every 15 minutes.”

She added: “I am really disappointed especially because they knew I was trapped.

“I was traumatised at the time and I’m only just getting back to normal.”

A stranger named Victoria was among the ten to 15 passers-by who Marie did not get a chance to thank.

She said: “She stayed with me until ten minutes before the ambulance - she was really nice and I would like to say thank you to her.”

A spokesman for the ambulance service said: “We would like to apologise to Miss Lovage for her wait for an ambulance and any further distress this may have caused.

“Unfortunately, due to an extremely high level of demand that day which saw more than 3,400 emergency calls received regionally and more than 1,250 of those classed as life-threatening, we were able to have an ambulance on scene at 11.56am.

“Other ambulances were sent but all were diverted to patients in a serious or life-threatening condition.

“We hope that Miss Lovage is making a strong recovery and would urge that they contact us if they have any other questions or concerns.”