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A cyclist who broke his hip in an accident was forced to spend two hours lying on the roadside before being transported in the back of a furniture van flagged down by police because there were no ambulances available.

Andrew Knight, 36, compared his experience with the health care he had witnessed while living in Africa and said he was a victim of “unacceptable” budget cuts in the NHS.

Mr Knight, from Buckhurst Hill, Essex, was cycling to his local GP surgery in Debden when he slipped in oil on the road and fell off his bike.

A passer-by called 999 and two paramedics arrived in a car to treat him following the October 1 accident.

Librarian Mr Knight said: “The paramedics realised I’d either broken my hip or my leg. They said they couldn’t transport me in the back of the car with those kind of injuries so they called for an ambulance, but they were told there were none available.

“I was there for a long time - two hours - and in a lot of pain because I have a low resting heartbeat which means I couldn’t be given morphine. It was raining and I was getting really cold and shivery.

“Eventually more paramedics arrived with blankets but I was still lying on the roadside and I was told I wasn’t even on the waiting list for an ambulance because there was a shortage.

“The paramedics were really kind and professional and caring but they were all saying this was ludicrous and down to budget cuts.”

In despair, the paramedics called for an air ambulance but were told the nearest one, in Essex, couldn’t take off because of high winds. A second helicopter from Norfolk was scrambled but couldn’t land in the road because of safety problems so had to touch down a mile away from Mr Knight.

“A policeman flagged down a passing furniture van driver and asked him to take me,” said Mr Knight.

“The driver was a bit wary because he was delivering a table to Sir Alan Sugar and he was worried about being late, but he was really good and took me to the helicopter.”

He was airlifted to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow where he underwent emergency surgery on his broken hip and spent five days recovering before being discharged home.

Mr Knight, who is expecting his first child with his girlfriend in February, said: “If anything can come of what happened to me, the first is that I want people to know that the paramedics, the police, the doctors and nurses who treated me and the passers-by who helped were all fantastic.

“But the other thing is that the lack of ambulances in this day and age is just unacceptable. I lived in Africa for a while and saw people waiting hours and hours for healthcare when they got ill - but this is London in the 21st century and it shouldn’t be happening here.”

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: “Ambulance crews at the scenes of any incidents have to think quickly on their feet and make rapid decisions to treat and stabilise their patients.

“On this occasion, the crews were aware the ambulance en route to them was diverted to a more life threatening call so the decision was to utilise a vehicle to assist them to get the patient to the awaiting aircraft.”

“Crews often commandeer vehicles to help transport their patients to awaiting helicopters.”