Ambulance bosses have apologised to the family of a man who died from a heart attack after waiting for an ambulance

Martin Clark, 68, started suffering chest pains at his home in East Sussex on November 18 and his family waited for 45 minutes for an ambulance.

After ringing for help three times, they eventually drove him to hospital but the father-of-five went into cardiac arrest after arriving.

His wife Ann Clark said he had been crying out in pain and even wrote a note saying: “I don’t think I’m going to make it. Love you”.

She told BBC’s Breakfast programme this morning: "He didn't drink. He didn't smoke. He walked every day. That day, he was out there with a chainsaw, cutting the hedge," she said.

"He was let down very badly. They should have come.

"The NHS is broken. Everybody is scared if they get ill where can they turn. Something needs to change - there's going to be so many deaths because of this. It's terrible."

Ambulance response times are meant to reach emergencies such as heart attacks within 18 minutes.

In November, Secamb averaged just over 34 minutes for such category two calls.

Mr Clark’s death happened before any ambulance staff strikes.

A spokesman for Secamb said: "We are very sorry we were unable to provide a timely response to Mr Clark. Our thoughts are with his family and we will look into this.

"We are working hard to respond to everyone who needs us as quickly as possible while our services remain under significant pressure."

The Department of Health and Social Care said it cannot comment on individual cases.

But it acknowledged the pressures the NHS is facing during the pandemic and pointed towards an extra £750 million being invested in its emergency care system.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, of the British Heart Foundation, told the BBC: "The difference between life and death can be a matter of minutes when someone is having a heart attack or stroke.

"Extreme delays to emergency heart and stroke care cannot become a new normal.”