KIND-HEARTED strangers helped a woman left lying with her head in the road on a zebra crossing for four agonizing hours with a broken leg.

One selfless man spent two hours lying in the road so the woman could rest her head on his legs to avoid the cold pavement and a local taxi driver gave her his blanket.

The woman, who is in her sixties and is currently being treated in hospital, tripped on the pavement on the zebra crossing at Seamoor Road and Poole Road junction, in Westbourne, at 9.50pm on Sunday and passers-by called 999.

One man who was at the scene and who did not want to be named said: “She had broken her femur and could not be moved. Calling 999 five times, the first thing that showed up was a fire engine from the local station at 11.30pm. They themselves called through on their private line but were told the same, that she was first in the queue.

“The fire crew provided comforting chat to the lady until an ambulance arrived at 12.40am – two hours and 50 minutes after the first call. After giving her morphine, the ambulance crew managed to get her into the ambulance sometime after 1.30am so she had been lying on the pavement with her head in the road for nearly four hours.

“This is a terrible state of affairs.”

The woman, who suffered a broken femur, is now undergoing surgery and treatment in Poole Hospital.

A spokesman for South Western Ambulance Service confirmed the trust received the initial 999 call at 9.54pm reporting a female had fallen with a suspected hip injury and a further four calls were received confirming the woman was conscious and breathing and that her condition had not worsened, before the paramedic arrived at the scene on 12.41pm.

He said: “During this time, a busy Sunday night during the Bank Holiday weekend, the Trust was dealing with 13 time-critical life-threatening incidents in Bournemouth alone including cardiac arrests and a young child with breathing difficulties. We have a finite number of resources and will always prioritise life-threatening calls.”