PENARTH Coastguard were called to treat a woman who injured her back after a fall on a steep road

The crew was called out at 5.22pm on Wednesday (January 10) to Bridgeman Road to give medical assistance to the woman.

The coastguard was called out to deal with the incident due to an ambulance backlog.

The coastguard crew used their basket stretcher and carried her, with the help of Penarth RNLI crew members, to the lifeboat station on The Esplanade.

Louise Platt, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s assistant director of operations confirmed they were first called to a report of a woman with minor injuries at 2.15pm.

“At this time all of our available ambulance crews were attending to other patients, either in the community or handing over at hospitals, where we encountered handover delays on Wednesday," she said.

“We would like to thank our RNLI and coastguard colleagues, who took this lady to a place of warmth in the meantime.

"The request for transport was later cancelled as her condition had improved and she was able to return home.

"This was both good news for the patient concerned, but also freed up an ambulance to attend a more serious case.

“However, we appreciate that any wait for an ambulance can be difficult, and if this patient has any queries about our response then we would be happy to discuss them."