VOLUNTEERS from Basildon's SOS bus came to the rescue after a train passenger broke his ankle when he fell down a flight of stairs.

The man, in his mid forties, was left in agony and faced a two-hour wait for an ambulance after suffering the fall at Basildon railway station.

Despite telling operators the man was in significant pain, station staff were told no ambulances were available.

Eventually, one resourceful worker phoned the volunteer-run SOS bus, parked at Festival Leisure Park, following the incident at about 10pm on Saturday.

The bus is parked in Cranes Farm Road, between 9pm and 3am every Friday and Saturday and its support vehicle is usually used for revellers who need further treatment.

But on this occasion, volunteer Hugh Hunter drove it down to the train station to help the stricken man.

He said: “This guy had fallen down the stairs and broken his ankle. He was in severe pain.

“He was laying there for quite some time. It was blocking the stairwell so people who were getting off the train couldn’t actually get down the stairs.

“The rail staff called for an ambulance but were told there were none available.

“In desperation they called us.”

Mr Hunter said when he arrived he spoke to emergency service staff himself to explain the seriousness of the situation.

He said: “I told them we desperately need an ambulance at the scene, but they said no-one was available at the moment.

“I couldn’t leave him there all night.

“We are all trained medics so with the help of the staff we carried him down the stairs and took him to A&E.

“He was quite a large gentleman as well.

“We were trying to get him up the stairs but he was in so much pain and agony.”

Mr Hunter said he was surprised at the failure to send an ambulance and said the situation could have been worse because the man had underlying medical problems.

He said: “Even if they had sent a car and given him some pain killers, he was in so much agony.

“I think the rail staff just got so desperate.

“Without us the poor guy would still be there now.

“He was very, very grateful.”

A spokesman for c2c said: "Our staff at the station provided the passenger with the best assistance they could to help ensure he was able to receive medical treatment as soon as possible."

An ambulance service spokesman said: "We would like to apologise to the patient for any distress caused.

"We received a call at 10.55pm on Saturday to a report of a man injuring his foot at Basildon train station.

"The call was coded as a non life-threatening call.  Due to high levels of demand on that day, we were not able to dispatch an ambulance immediately.

"A control room clinician had attempted to contact the patient following the 999 call, but was unable to get through.

“We hope he is making a strong recovery and would we would recommend him to contact us if he has any further questions or concerns.”

"Saturday was a busy day for the Trust with almost 1,000 emergency calls in Essex, more than 370 of which were life-threatening emergency calls.”