TRADERS in Pewsey rushed to the assistance of an elderly woman with critical injuries in the High Street on Friday afternoon after she was struck by a cyclist as she crossed the road.

But Diana Walker, 77, of Edwardian Court died at Great Western Hospital, Swindon, on Sunday after being airlifted. The cyclist, aged 46, suffered minor knee injuries in the accident.

Parish councillor Caroline Dalrymple who runs a soft furnishing shop in the High Street has been critical of how long it took emergency services to respond.

She said: "I have an office just three yards away from where the incident happened. I saw the cyclist land and heard people shout Mrs Walker’s name. The whole of the community pulled together and rushed out to help which included blocking off the street."

She said the air ambulance landed at Pewsey Football Club and villagers had to guide them to where Mrs Walker needed urgent assistance.

She said: “You cannot fault the teams that showed up, they were all very helpful, it is just the system that is the problem. Someone rang 999 and was put on a holding line for a while. The system causes a lot of unnecessary costs to the tax payer.

“I cannot say how marvellous the public were, Dave from Daisy’s came out to help and people were just so caring. Where were the police though? There was a lack of help from them.”

John Flynn, head of contact management for Wiltshire Police, said: “Wiltshire Police will respond to all immediate incidents as quickly as possible, given the fact that we are a rural county this can, at times, present a challenge. In this incident, our first unit on scene arrived there in the time parameters that we work against for an incident of this nature.”

A spokesperson from Great Western Ambulance said: “The Trust received a call on Friday, 13 May to reports of a female patient involved in a collision with a bicycle. An air ambulance was on scene within 15-minutes followed by a road ambulance shortly after. Treatment was administered at the scene and the patient was taken to Great Western Hospital by air ambulance.”

On Tuesday evening Pewsey Parish Council paid tribute to Mrs Walker who has lived in the village for three years. It is likely the council will discuss the emergency response times at a later meeting.

If anyone witnessed the incident they are asked to call Wiltshire Police on 101.