A WOMAN was left with blood pouring down her face after she was dumped on to a road when her wheelchair hit a pothole.

Tracey Abbott, 46, was being taken home by private ambulance after spending several nights at Colchester General Hospital when she needed to be taken straight back again.

Ms Abbott, of Coats Hutton Road, Colchester, was left sitting on the ground for 90 minutes before another ambulance could arrive to help her to her feet.

Partner Michael Ralph, 69, said: “They got her out of the ambulance and put her in the wheelchair, but it had no straps.

“But as she came up to the pavement the concrete was coming away and the wheel hit it and she fell out.

“I couldn’t believe it had happened until I saw her on the ground.

“She had to sit on the floor for ages.”

Ms Abbott suffered a cut nose and chin while her glasses bruised her eye. She also had a bad graze to her side.

Mr Ralph said: “She didn’t even get in the flat before she had to go back to hospital.”

Ms Abbott had been in Colchester General Hospital since Tuesday after suffering an epileptic seizure.

The incident happened at 7.30pm on Friday, with the East of England Ambulance Service sending paramedics to the scene by 9.05pm.

They took her back to the Turner Road site. She was kept in hospital until Monday.

The couple are planning on complaining to Essex County Council for not maintaining the road.

Mr Ralph said: “It’s ridiculous this has happened to her.”

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said they were called at 7.30pm.

He said: “The call was coded as a non-emergency with a target of responding within 90 minutes.

“The patient was looked after by an ambulance care assistant until the arrival of an ambulance crew at 9.05pm.

“She was treated for hip pain and was taken to Colchester General Hospital.

“We hope the patient is making a strong recovery and would urge her to get in touch with us if she has any further concerns or questions.”

A spokesperson for Essex Highways said: “We are sorry to hear of this lady’s accident and we wish her a full recovery.

"The only defect we have logged for the road is low-risk, near the kerb. We would ask this resident report the defect online at www.essexhighways.org/Report-a-problem.aspx.”