Ratner attacks London’s ‘Third World ambulance service’ after bike accident

Businessman Gerald Ratner has compared London’s ambulance service to “something out of the Third World,” after his daughter was left for two hours by the roadside after a major bicycle accident.

Sarah Ratner, 26, suffered head injuries and an impaled leg after colliding with two other cyclists near the Houses of Parliament. She received first aid from an off-duty doctor at the time of the accident but when paramedics failed to arrive her mother had to drive her to A&E.

Her father, the former chief executive of Ratner’s jewellers, said: “Somebody is going to lose their life if things carry on like this. The emergency services call themselves an emergency service, but didn’t act like one.”

The London Ambulance Service said it was “incredibly busy” at the time of Ms Ratner’s accident and that an ambulance for her was “diverted to a higher priority call.”