THE Scottish Ambulance Service has issued an apology after paramedics took three-and-a-half hours to arrive at an Edinburgh street where a woman was showing signs of hypothermia.

The woman, thought to have been in her 30s, suffered a suspected broken collarbone after tripping in St Mary's Street on Monday.

Despite a number of 999 calls ambulance crews did not arrive to treat the woman until three and a half hours later.

A passing doctor reportedly stated she was showing signs of hypothermia.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We prioritise our services to ensure the sickest, most seriously injured patients, including those with immediately life-threatening conditions, are given the highest priority.

"We apologise to this patient for the delay in our response. We were experiencing an exceptionally high level of demand at the time in the area and the patient was triaged as a non immediately life-threatening emergency.

"We regret that the patient waited longer than we would have liked and we will be contacting her directly to apologise."