A LEIGH pensioner's death is to be fully investigated after the ambulance that ferried her to hospital became stuck in mud outside her home.

Relatives and friends of Alice Hall, aged 63, desperately tried to free the vehicle after its wheels sank into the grassy ground and while she was being treated for a cardiac arrest inside.

The paramedic crew had been forced to drive on to the boggy ground because parked cars blocked the way to Mrs Hall's house in West Avenue, off Warrington Road, Leigh.

As Mrs Hall was being treated inside the ambulance, desperate efforts were being made to free it from the mud. Tragically the mum-of-six, who suffered chronic lung problems, later died.

Today ambulance bosses estimated the stuggle to free the vehicle lasted about five minutes, by which time a second emergency vehicle had also arrived at the scene. Now an area manager for the paramedic service is to visit the site to see if any improvements can be suggested to aid accessibility. Mrs Hall's grieving relatives praised paramedics but slammed council bosses amid claims there were numerous calls over the years for the grassy area to be tarmaced. And yesterday Wigan Council bosses admitted there were many more similar road layouts in and around Leigh. A council spokesman said: "It is a very tragic incident. We are investigating the full circumstances and we also need a detailed report from the Ambulance Service about what happened."

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