Cancer patient, 85, is left lying on patio in the rain for SEVEN HOURS as he waited for an ambulance after a fall

An elderly cancer patient was forced to wait for seven hours in the rain for an ambulance – despite living just yards from a hospital.

Keith Royles, 85, broke his hip while cutting his lawn and was forced to have an agonising wait for an ambulance in a north-east village in Wales.

His family explained Mr Royles’ house in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, was directly opposite their local hospital but paramedics did not arrive at the scene.

Mr Royles was forced to lay on his patio in the rain for seven hours as his family tried to keep him dry by erecting a shelter over him.

His daughter Tina said: ‘We called an ambulance and were told that there would be a wait of between four to seven hours for an ambulance.

‘We called several times and my sister even tried to flag down an ambulance but they said they couldn’t help.’

He lives just across the road from the major Ysbyty Glan Clwyd Hospital serving his part of North Wales.

But when paramedics did arrive they were told to take Mr Royles to another hospital more than 30 miles away in Bangor as the one opposite his house was ‘too busy.’

Tina said the family were able to successfully argue for her father – who suffers from terminal cancer – to be taken over the road from his home.