ONE of the first people on the scene of a traffic collision in Barry has criticised the ambulance service for the length of time it took it to arrive.

On Monday, March 24, a crash between a motorcyclist and a Ford Fiesta happened on Broad Street.

While no-one suffered life-threatening injuries, passerby Mike Collins has said that the sight of a motorcyclist lying the road was concerning enough that the 23-minute wait for an ambulance was far too long.

He also praised an off-duty nurse who assisted the motorcyclist while they waited for the emergency services.

Police arrived at the scene within five minutes of being called but the ambulance took 23 minutes.

Mr Collins said: "I just felt that was too long when there's a guy lying in the middle of the road."

The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust confirmed that one person with serious injuries and two people with minor injuries were taken to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.

In relation to the 23-minute arrival time, Greg Lloyd, the trust's locality manager for Cardiff and the Vale, said: “Shortly before 2.10pm, we were called to reports of a two-vehicle road traffic collision on Broad Street in Barry.

“The nearest available emergency ambulance was dispatched, and once at scene, the crew requested support from a second emergency ambulance, which was immediately allocated.

“At the time of this call, the service was dealing with handover delays at hospitals in the area, which unfortunately reduced the availability of our crews and vehicles to respond to calls in a timely manner.

“We would invite the patients to contact us to discuss this case in further detail should they wish to do so.”