A man begged paramedics to take him to hospital after his hand was injured in a collision with a lorry in Finchley Road this afternoon (Friday, December 14).

The incident near to Swiss Cottage Tube station happened at the same spot where an injured 83-year-old woman waited more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive two days earlier (Wednesday, December 12).

The man, who was the passenger in a car, was opening the door of the vehicle when his hand was hurt and shopkeepers reported hearing a scream. A dent could be seen in the car door after the collision.

Paramedics in a responder arrived on the scene nine minutes after the call, but it took 50 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

The man, believed to be in his 30s, was heard pleading with paramedics: “Please take me to hospital, I’m begging you.”

But the medics said they were unable to do so without an ambulance.

The ambulance had still not arrived half an hour later and the medics drove the man to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead in the responder.

The driver of the lorry, who asked not to be named, told the Ham&High: “He opened the door as the van was going past and his hand got stuck.

“I was driving down the road and as I was driving past he decided to open the door as my lorry was half-way past him.”

Jyoti Julka, who owns a hardware shop at SAI 108 in Harben Parade, heard a scream. She provided an umbrella, blankets and tissues to stop the flow of blood while the injured man waited for an ambulance.

A spokesman from the London Ambulance Service confirmed the man was treated for a cut to his hand at the scene and said the delay for the ambulance to arrive was due to prioritising more serious call-outs.

The spokesman said: “The man was treated on scene and then he [the paramedic] said his pain score was zero out of ten and that’s why the ambulance wasn’t dispatched immediately.

“We need to keep those for the people who are in life threatening situations.”

No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.