A mum claims she was left wedged at the bottom of the stairs with a broken neck for 70 minutes waiting for an ambulance.

Zoe Barnes fell down 12 stairs at her friend’s home and claims she was left with her head resting on her chest as her friend called 999 at least three times.

The 53-year-old, of Fiddlers Hill, Fordham Heath, believes she was not treated as a priority as she was able to talk and is calling for the ambulance service to change how they judge the urgency of calls.

She said: “I fell head first backwards down a flight of stairs at my friend’s flat in Harwich.

“I was wedged up against the wall and my friend phoned the ambulance service repeatedly but they kept saying I wasn’t a priority, I believe there was a car accident roughly at the same sort of time, but I had actually broken my neck.

“The pain was incredible."

The ambulance service apologised and described the delay as unacceptable.