A worried mum is set to launch an official complaint after she waited 20 minutes for an ambulance when her young son had an epileptic fit and stopped breathing.

Charlene Wood, 29, claimed it took paramedics 19 minutes and 58 seconds to arrive at her home in Parsonage Street, Halstead, after Benjamin, three, suffered a seizure.

During the wait, he stopped breathing for several minutes but medicine designed to control fits helped Benjamin pull himself out of the seizure.

He began to breathe normally before paramedics arrived.

Now Miss Wood is looking into complaining to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service in a bid to stop such long waiting times.

She said: “I definitely want to avoid this happening in the future."

See this week's Halstead Gazette for the full story.