Bedfordshire Police refers force to watchdog after Everton crash victim left in ditch for hours

THREE police forces have referred themselves to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) after an injured motorcyclist was left in a ditch for more than two hours – because the forces could not decide who should rescue him.

Richard Collins, from Everton, near Sandy, crashed close to Tilbrook, Cambridgeshire, which borders Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire.

His bike crashed off the B645 road close to the border of the three counties on Sunday afternoon and was eventually taken to Bedford Hospital in a police car with an injured arm that evening.

Despite a 999 call going in shortly after 4pm, emergency services did not arrive until 6.40pm.

He had been out riding with five other motorcyclists enjoying the weather when the incident – witnessed by a pick-up truck driver – happened.

He said: “I managed to get back out of the ditch and on the road and sat and waited.

“I think I was in quite a lot of pain, I can’t really remember but I was trying not to move my arm. It was at a right angle, like a Harry Potter bent, floppy arm, and I had bruising.

“I waited about an hour and a quarter and then called 101. I didn’t want to call 999 as I didn’t want to block the line. At that point Northamptonshire Police said my call had been logged and someone was on their way.”

Mr Collins, from Sandy, then waited with his friends and called 101 again.

The service engineer, said: “I called 101 at about 6ish and went back through to Northamptonshire Police.

“They transferred me to Cambridgeshire Police and they said the call had been transferred to Bedfordshire Police. Half an hour later Bedfordshire Police turned up. At that point I didn’t really care as I was in pain.”

Cambridgeshire Constabulary said they first received a call at 4.20pm from Northamptonshire Police but after assessing the incident referred it back to them.

Bedfordshire Police said they were informed at 4.25pm by Northamptonshire Police, but told them it was not in their patch.

But after Bedfordshire Police was informed at 5.40pm that no emergency services had attended they then dispatched a police car.

Bedfordshire Police and Cambridgeshire Police said they believed East Midlands Ambulance Service was contacted about the crash – but the service said it could not find the incident on its logs.

Mr Collins, 49, added: “I was cold and I was thinking there must have been something more serious going on.”

“The police officer could not believe nobody had responded and wasn’t going to wait for an ambulance to come and she took me to hospital, she was wonderful.

“I’m annoyed because nobody has apologised to me about it. I’ve seen reports saying they have apologised but not to me. They can just pick up the phone and do it.”

His arm is currently in a cast and he is due to visit hospital tomorrow for a check up.

Mr Collins, who had been married to wife Mary for 20 years, has had his orange Honda VFR for a year and fears the damage could lead to it being written off.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire Adam Simmonds branded the mix-up a ‘scandal’ and said ‘someone should answer for that’.

The three forces along with the ambulance service are now looking into the circumstances and have apologised to the Mr Collins.

Chief Inspector for Bedfordshire Police, Nick Lyall, said: “Although the incident did not occur in an area covered by Bedfordshire Police, as soon as we were made aware that no emergency services had attended, we immediately dispatched a police car.

“On arrival our officer took the decision to convey the casualty to hospital in the police car in order to ensure that he received medical treatment as soon as possible.

“We would like to apologise to the man involved for the length of time it took to get an emergency response to him, and we would like to reassure both him and the public that we are looking into the circumstances with colleagues at Northamptonshire Police, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and the ambulance service in order to prevent a repeat of such delays in the future.”

A Cambridgeshire Constabulary spokesman confirmed they had not received the 999 call and said: “It remains unclear as to which county the incident occurred in. It is clear that a better response should have been given.

“We will now work with Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to find out what went wrong and ensure this is not repeated.”

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