A DISTRAUGHT husband has criticised the organisers of Ironman Weymouth after his dying wife's Macmillan nurses were delayed by the event for nearly three hours.

Patricia Lathwell, 84, is being cared for daily at her Preston Road home.

Husband Mike said he was "livid" after receiving a phone call on Sunday morning, explaining the nurses had been halted by road closures implemented for the race.

"We took a call from one of the Macmillan nurses saying they'd been stopped by race marshals near Dorchester," he explained.

"They were meant to be here at 9.45am, but finally arrived after 12.30pm.

"One of the nurses was almost in tears when she got here – they both said they'd be reporting the incident to their boss."

Mr Lathwell, 77, said the nurses work hard to make Patricia, who has terminal ovarian cancer, as comfortable as they can at home.

"She is going to go anytime now," he said. "I'm just sitting here waiting."

Minutes after receiving the call on Sunday, Mr Lathwell frantically telephoned Ironman organisers.

"The woman on the phone told me 'we haven't stopped them'. She said they were 'aware of the situation and were working to sort it out', that was around 10am.

"When the nurses were finally able to get here, one of them explained they'd been told they could go through, but they were sitting in their car and there was about forty cyclists coming towards them en-masse. What could they do?

"They were waiting there and there was no escort available."

He said at one point he considered parking his car across Preston Road, blocking the course, to make people aware of the situation.

"I even offered to drive out to pick the nurses up, drive them back and to hell with it if the police stopped me.

"If I'd have caused a ruckus, good, something needs to be done.

"I was absolutely livid, I was totally powerless.

"I'm not against the event, but there has to be better contingency plans in place."

Around 2,200 athletes took part in Ironman Weymouth, despite Sunday's challenging weather conditions.

The triathlon consisted of a 1.2mile swim, a 56-mile cycle ride and a 13.1-mile run around Weymouth.

In 2016 the event led to a barrage of complaints from residents and business owners due to widespread disruption. It was blamed on a lack of communication and signage problems.

It prompted organisers to work closely with Dorset County Council to ensure the message got out about road closures and parking restrictions.

Fewer problems were reported last year and also for last weekend's race.

IRONMAN Weymouth race director Alan Rose stressed: "We absolutely recognise that the work all carers do – whether it is end of life or otherwise – is essential, important work.

"We have tremendous amounts of contingency plans in place, and in the build-up to this event we contact all carer companies and individuals that we can find.

"We work very closely with the local authorities to try and contact them all.

"This year was no exception, and when we are made aware about any carers from any company – whether it is private, public or voluntary – we then provide information so they know where they can go, and what times they can hit certain spots.

"We will accommodate them as much as possible.

"What we found this year, is that due to new data protection regulations, a lot of companies wouldn't share information about where they were coming from and where they were going to go to. The more information we can have, the more we can help.

"I don't know this specific case, so I cannot comment on it. But if we don't have the information, you have to understand that there could be a delay, because you may turn up at a very busy area where it would be unsafe and unfair for us to allow you through."