Man dies after ambulances blocked in by angry neighbour

Yet another ladbible article

What, if anything, should happen to this neighbour? In the comments people talk of driving bans and charge of manslaughter

Ambulances called to save a man's life at a care home were held up for more than three hours by parked cars.

A couple blocked the lane outside the home, which cares for 20 patients with dementia, with their cars. As a result, paramedics were unable to leave the scene until police were called.

Lucy Hunt, the manager of Cedar Wood House in East Sussex, UK, said there was an ongoing dispute with neighbours about ambulances parking on the small private lane.

Two ambulances had been sent to the care home following an emergency call from staff saying that one of their patients was gravely ill. Soon after the crews arrived, they became aware that their vehicles had both been barricaded in and had they needed to rush the elderly man to hospital using blue lights and sirens, they would have been unable to because of the blockade.

The man who the ambulances were called to save, believed to be in his 90s, died before paramedics could have helped him, but Ms Hunt described the neighbours' actions as 'outrageous'.

She said: "I know that they get frustrated with the parking situation outside of the home. We are on just a small private lane but it was an emergency situation in which unfortunately a male resident died.

"It was two cars blocking the ambulances in, a husband and wife from the same household. It is absolutely disgusting. I rushed here myself, I had to park down the road.

"The gentleman did actually pass away before they could have helped him but if they needed to respond very quickly they wouldn't have been able to. The way the cars were parked, it was to cause as many problems for the ambulance staff as they could."

Another neighbour at the scene said the wife shouted at ambulance crews: "I've got a job to do as well!"

Ms Hunt added: "There has been no apology whatsoever. I know that that female from the household was shouting abuse at the ambulance crews as well. As for her saying, 'I've got a job to do as well,' she could still access the lane so she could have gone out. I don't know what the issue is."

After realising the ambulances had been barricaded in, control staff from the South East Coast Ambulance Trust sent an officer to the scene to try and get the paramedic crews back on the road and able to respond to other 999 calls. However, the neighbours would not move their vehicles until police were called.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "We are aware that ambulances were blocked in at the scene but there were no arrests."

A spokesman for South East Coast Ambulance Service urged motorists to be patient during emergency situations.

He said: "We were called to attend a serious life-threatening Cat 1 emergency in Battle (East Sussex) at 5pm on Wednesday, 13 February. While every effort was undertaken to park responsibly, there were limited places to park and the road was very narrow.

"Unfortunately, this meant that during the time our clinicians were attending the patient, the road was blocked. A member of staff, on returning to the vehicle during the course of the emergency to get equipment, was challenged by a motorist who became verbally aggressive and the matter was reported to the police.

"While every effort is undertaken to reduce the impact of our ambulances on other road users, there are occasions when we may be required to block access. We would urge motorists to be patient while we attend to patients."