AN elderly man died after a couple living next door to his care home used their cars to block in two ambulances in a parking row.

Paramedics were unable to get him to hospital for more than three hours - after police were called - but by then it was too late.

The seriously ill patient, believed to have been aged in his 90s, died inside the care home as frantic attempts were made to free the blocked ambulances.

The tragedy followed a long-running battle between staff at the Cedarwood House care home in Battle, East Sussex, and neighbours who objected to ambulances being parked on the road.

On Wednesday evening two ambulances responding to a "category 1" emergency were blocked in by two cars owned by the protesting couple from 5pm to 8.30pm.

Another neighbour at the scene described how the angry woman had shouted at ambulance crews: "I've got a job to do as well!"

Control staff from the South East Coast Ambulance Trust sent an officer to the scene to try to sort out the dispute as the paramedic were also blocked from responding to other 999 calls.

It was not until the police intervened that the irate neighbours backed down.

'ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING'
Lucy Hunt, the manager of the Cedarwood House condemned the "outrageous" neighbours who held up the two front-line ambulances for hours.

She said: "I know that they get frustrated with the parking situation outside of the home.

"We are on just a small private lane but it was an emergency situation in which unfortunately a male resident died.

"It was two cars blocking the ambulances in, a husband and wife from the same household.

"It is absolutely disgusting. I rushed here myself, I had to park down the road.

"The gentleman did actually pass away before they could have helped him but if they needed to respond very quickly they wouldn't have been able to.

"The way the cars were parked, it was to cause as many problems for the ambulance staff as they could.

It was two cars blocking the ambulances in. It is absolutely disgusting.

"There has been no apology whatsoever. I know that that female from the household was shouting abuse at the ambulance crews as well.

"As for her saying, ''I've got a job to do as well', she could still access the lane so she could have gone out. I don't know what the issue is."

Ms Hunt, who leads a team of 24 staff at the care home which looks after people with a diagnosis of dementia, with 20 people in total who are aged over 65 years living at Cedarwood House, said the neighbours in Hastings Road often complained about ambulances coming to help residents who have fallen ill.

The manager added: "We have problems with other neighbours too, they have no compassion whatsoever for the job we do here or any of the residents.

"Any time the ambulance comes down here they are banging on the doors and telling them to move.

"If there was anything that we can do, so that this situation never occurs again, we will do it. I'm more than happy to speak to the police."

The ambulance service said the crew were abused for stopping outside the home.

A spokesman said: "A member of staff, on returning to the vehicle during the course of the emergency to get equipment, was challenged by a motorist who became verbally aggressive and the matter was reported to the police.

"We would urge motorists to be patient while we attend to patients."

Sussex Police said: "We are aware that ambulances were blocked in at the scene but there were no arrests."