A MAN injured in a town centre collision had to wait an hour and a half for an ambulance.

Fast response paramedics treated the man for head injuries at the scene in Bridport but there was a long wait for an ambulance to take him to hospital.

The collision outside the Bull Hotel in East Street on Saturday evening involved a 58-year-old man and a Volkswagen Passat.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "We were called at 6.44pm on Saturday to reports of a man hit by a vehicle outside the Bull.

"The incident involved a blue VW Passat registered to an address in Wells, Somerset. East Street was closed while emergency services dealt with the incident.

"A 58-year-old man from Bridport was taken to Dorset County Hospital with serious injuries, including a head injury."

Insp Mike Darby of Bridport police said first responders had a long wait for an ambulance, even though emergency services initially believed the man's injuries to be serious.

He said: "The victim is a local man who is known to police. After the collision members of the public started trying to assist the man.

"There was a problem here because no ambulance was available [at the time of the collision]. Police and first responders dealt with the victim but waited a considerable time - about one and a half hours - for an ambulance."

Insp Darby added: "It is believed the man may have staggered back into the road before he was hit, but we are investigating the cause of the collision.

"After receiving medical treatment his injuries are now believed to be not as serious as before."

Cllr Sarah Williams, leader of Bridport Town Council, said: "I agree that to have to wait one and a half hours is unacceptable, it seems absolutely crazy when we have an ambulance station in Bridport.

"It's very lucky the man didn't have life-threatening injuries."

A spokesman for South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said: “The Trust would like to make an assurance that the patient received care from a paramedic throughout the duration of the incident.

"Although the wait for an ambulance to take the patient to hospital is longer than we would have liked on this occasion, one of our rapid response cars - which carries almost identical equipment to an ambulance - was on the scene before the ambulance arrived, meaning that there were in fact two paramedics on the scene treating him.”

Any witnesses to the collision, or anyone with information about the incident, is asked to call Dorset Police on 101.