A group of people who tried to help a woman who collapsed and seemed passed out in a major road was shocked to hear they would have to wait two hours for an ambulance.

A woman, believed to be in her 20s, collapsed on the pavement at around 12.40pm today (February 03) on Station Road, Harrow nearby the Savers Health & Beauty store

Pedestrians passing by stopped to see if the woman was alright, and some were shocked to hear emergency services say it would take around two hours for an ambulance to arrive.

Jack Welby, from Edgware, was among one of the people helping and tried to call a private hire vehicle to escort her to Northwick Park Hospital.

However due to the road having pedestrian access only, the private hire car said they could not be of help.

As the woman rested in recovery position, the group of people believed it would not be safe to carry her to a different accessible location.

Mr Welby said: “A private hire vehicle should be allowed in a pedestrian zone in an emergency.

“It’s a very bad situation, you can’t have someone waiting two-and-a-half hours.

“The emergency services are supposed to have improved but it’s clear that they’re not.”

Following the complaint, London Ambulance Services confirmed that medics arrived at the scene and assessed the patient within 1 hour and 30 minutes.

A spokesperson said: “The call was assigned a category three response which has a two hour response time and the 999 caller was advised of this.

“We aim to get to all of our patients as quickly as we can but we must prioritise reaching those who are most critically ill and injured such as those who have stopped breathing or suffering cardiac arrest.

“All callers are given clear advice about ringing 999 again if the condition of the patient changes.”