AN investigation into why an elderly woman who was knocked down by a car was left in the road for hours has been concluded.

But while South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) said it regretted the incident, it declined to elaborate on why the ambulance took two hours to arrive, or to comment on what, if anything, the investigation revealed.

The Chronicle reported previously how the unnamed woman was struck by a car in the city centre on December 17 last year.

Although she was helped by police officers who were quickly on the scene, onlookers were stunned at the length of time it took for an ambulance to arrive.

Paramedics arrived after an hour, although it was another hour before an ambulance arrived to take the patient to hospital. The woman remained lying down in the road throughout.

A spokesman for SCAS said in statement: “South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) would sincerely like to apologise for the delay on an ambulance response arriving on scene to a patient who was involved in an RTC at 1333 on December 17, 2012.

“It is regrettable that on this occasion we did not dispatch to the high standards which we would normally expect and we believe that this is not acceptable. We take any issues of delays to our patients very seriously and have investigated the incident. We are using this opportunity to learn and educate staff as a result of this incident to ensure that we improve our services to our patients in the future.”