DELAYS in patients waiting for ambulances has more than doubled in the past two years in South Lakeland.

Emergencies where the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) has taken more than 20 minutes to attend has risen from107 to 230 since 2012 in the South Lakes, according to a Freedom of Information Request.

And while numbers of incidents have also increased from 700 to 968 in the same period, the percentage of those which took more than 20 minutes to attend has jumped from 15 to 24 per cent.

A spokesperson for Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron's office said they had received a "rash" of complaints in November about the waiting time.

“When people call for an ambulance they are doing so because they are in a life threatening situation," said Mr Farron. "According to these figures in nearly 25 per cent of cases the wait is over 20 minutes.

"We understand that in a rural area like ours it can take longer to get to an emergency, but the Ambulance Service figures are unacceptable. They can and must do better.”

NWAS NHS Trust Director of Operations, Derek Cartwright said: “NWAS has introduced a number of initiatives to ensure as many ambulances as possible are free to attend urgent cases.

"We are working with volunteer services such as Mountain Rescue teams, Red Cross and St John’s Ambulance and also seeing an increased use of Community First Responders. Staffing levels in control rooms have been increased as well as a rise in the number of frontline resources.”

A source has claimed the NWAS would need around 30 more ambulances to tackle the problem.

Mr Cartwright added the NWAS dealt with an "unprecedented" amount of 999 calls over the festive period throughout the North West.

Between December 14 and January 1 the organisation took 70,395 999 emergency calls, a rise of 15 per cent compared to the same period in 2013.