A man with a heart condition is calling for change after his ambulance was left sitting in traffic while a cycling race took place.

David Shepherd woke up groggy and struggling to breathe on Sunday 28 June, with an ambulance swiftly attending his home outside Aberystwyth.

However the usual 30-minute journey to Bronglais Hospital was almost doubled due to road closures for the National Road Championships through the town.

The 81-year-old from Ffos-y-ffin said: “Because I was stable they didn’t put the blue lights on; it wasn’t an emergency.

“But if I had been an emergency patient it still would have been very difficult to get through.

“It's inappropriate to have a course going through the town in a way that prevents access to the hospital.

“I’m not against cycling, I was a keen cyclist in my youth, but to actually block the main road preventing emergency vehicles... if I had a life-threatening condition a delay could have been fatal.

“Had there been a serious injury to a competitor or marshal, I wonder if they would have been treated with the same disregard?”

A spokesperson for the Welsh Ambulance Service said that due to the situation not being an emergency, the ambulance had to adhere to normal traffic conditions, adding: “During the journey, Mr Shepherd was continually monitored by clinicians and did not require a blue light conveyance to hospital.

“Accordingly, the journey time was in line with local road traffic conditions on the day.”

According to British Cycling, which organised the race, no road restrictions apply to blue-lighted emergency service vehicles, adding that the Welsh Ambulance Service was present in the event control room that day, but that Mr Shepherd’s case wasn’t raised.

A spokesperson added: “Although we empathise with the frustrations, our policy does allow ambulances to access the race route where required.”