A WELL-known Wellington businessman has undergone surgery in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, after breaking his pelvis in an accident.

Alan Shire, who is president of Wellington Football Club, suffered a fall when working in his stables at Little Silver, on the outskirts of thw town, after the rope of a hay net for horses broke.

His family say it took an ambulance crew between four and five hours to attend to him before he was taken to the Taunton hospital on Monday where he had to wait another 90 minutes before being admitted. He later had a hip replacement.

The accident comes less than five months after his wife Gillian, a former insurance employer, badly broke her leg in a field not far from the stables. She had to crawl to a near-by road before getting help.  She also underwent surgery for the injury.  

Mr Shire was allowed home late this week.

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: “We are sorry that we were unable to provide a timely response to Mr Shire and we wish him well in his recovery.

 “Our ambulance clinicians strive every day to give their best to patients, but our performance has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, partly due to handover delays at emergency departments. 

 “Health and social care services are under enormous pressure. We are working with our partners in the NHS and social care, to do all we can to improve the service that patients receive.”