'We can never say sorry enough': Ambulance service apologises after mum dies waiting for help

• Video report by Tim Scott.

The North West Ambulance Service has apologised to the family of a mother-of-two who died while waiting almost an hour for an ambulance to arrive.

Akshay Patel was woken in the middle of the night by his mum, Bina, who was struggling to breathe at their home in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside on October 11.

He desperately tried to keep his 56-year-old mother - who had diabetes but no other long-term health conditions - alive while he repeatedly called for an ambulance as her condition deteriorated.

But by the time paramedics finally arrived at their home almost an hour later, the mother-of-two had no pulse.

The North West Ambulance Service sent the grieving son a report explaining that whilst they did have sufficient resources on the night, high demand meant they could not deliver the services they should have been able to.

Mr Patel explained how he first called for an ambulance at 2.30am. When it didn't arrive, he called again at 2.52am, 3.03am, 3.10am, 3.17am, 3.23am and another a few seconds later.

During two of the distressing 999 calls Ms Patel can be heard screaming "I'm dying" as her son desperately tries to calm her and asks call handlers if he can do anything to help her.

A patient report completed by North West Ambulance Service shows an ambulance was on the way to the scene at 3.18am.

But by the paramedics arrived, Ms Patel was already dead. A report from the ambulance service says she suffered a 'suspected cardiac arrest'.

In a statement North West Ambulance Service said: "In this case, we can never say sorry enough. The amount of time it took for help to arrive is unacceptable.The exceptional demand we have faced has regularly seen resources over-stretched. While we understand it will be of little comfort to her family, we want to make clear no human error led to the delay faced by Mrs Patel."