A pensioner who lost her arm after catching a flesh-eating bug at church hall pilates class has won her claim in negligence against the NHS at the High Court.

Patricia Austin, 78, contracted necrotising fasciitis after injuring her arm at a resistance band workout at a church hall in Aylesbury, on August 8, 2012.

Mrs Austin may now receive up to £150,000 in compensation.

Having hurt her arm, Mrs Austin saw her GP and - by then very sick - her daughter later called 999, but a paramedic declined to take her to A&E immediately.

Instead, the paramedic decided she did not need hospital treatment, in the belief she had an abdominal condition, and advised her to take painkillers, the High Court heard.

Mrs Austin had initially thought she had tweaked a tendon during her class, but after eventually getting to hospital the next day, was diagnosed with the flesh-eating bacteria and the arm was removed.

She sued the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, claiming her limb would have been saved if the paramedic had taken her to hospital on the previous evening.

And after ruling that the delay in getting her to hospital was a breach of the duty owed to the patient, a judge today awarded Mrs Austin the right to damages which could reach £150,000.