Welsh Ambulance chiefs will meet to investigate

Senior staff will meet next week to discuss how the dead man came to be left on a public pavement for so long.

Ken Barlow, 69, had died before an ambulance arrived more than 30 minutes after being called, his friend said.

Brian Dolman found Mr Barlow collapsed in the street in Knighton, Powys, just minutes after the pair had had a meal together after playing bowls.

"I tried to keep him alive for about 20 minutes," said Mr Dolman, landlord of the town's Horse and Jockey pub.

"He was suffering. The police came and told us the ambulance was coming from Newtown, which is about 38 miles away."

Treatment complaint

Mr Dolman realised he could no longer feel a pulse before the ambulance arrived, he said.

The 66-year-old hit out at the treatment of his friend, who he believes died of a heart attack.

Mr Dolman claims that Mr Barlow, who was also a member of a local choir, was left lying on the street until 2345 BST.

"You cannot move a person until they have been classified by a doctor as dead," said Mr Dolman.

"They had to wait for the doctor who was on duty in Shropshire.

"It was degrading."

The ambulance service said its control room was informed at 2234 BST that Mr Barlow had been certified dead, and added that he was not taken from the scene because an undertaker had already been called.

Rare occurrence

George Murphy, regional ambulance officer for the South East region of the Welsh Ambulance Service, said the situation on the night in question, Wednesday 30 July, was unusual.

Ambulances based at Knighton and nearby Llandrindod Wells had already been called to emergencies, he said, which was rare in such a rural area.

The Newtown-based ambulance reached the scene 34 minutes after being called.

Mr Murphy said that usually when someone died in a public place, a crew wouldl remove the body.

But on this occasion, he said, they were informed on arriving that an undertaker had already been called to collect Mr Barlow's body, and police discharged the ambulance crew accordingly.

"This was a very unusual set of circumstances," said Mr Murphy.