THE wife of a seriously ill Haslemere man has branded Surrey Ambulance "despicable" after an ambulance booked to take him for a vital hospital check-up failed to arrive.

Susie Chandler, from Bunch Lane, hit out following the treatment of her husband, Colin who has suffered from a brain tumour for the last 10 years.

She had booked the ambulance to collect him from Haslemere Hospital and take him to the Atkinson Morley unit at St George's Hospital in Tooting for an appointment with the the specialist consultant.

Mr Chandler had been waiting for the appointment for four months to see if his tumour had shrunk or grown and what further treatment was required.

But the ambulance, which had been booked three months in advance and was due to arrive last Friday at 1 pm, failed to turn up leaving the Chandlers devastated.

"I was just dumbstruck," said Susie Chandler.

"To have to wait all the time he did for the appointment, which was postponed on a number of occasions, was bad enough, but for this to happen as well is unbelievable. We are just despairing of the service which is totally inadequate and despicable.

"The worse thing was that Surrey Ambulanc didn't even bother to tell us that the ambulance wasn't arriving. The hospital had to ring up to find out where they were."

Mrs Chandler later discovered that there were no available ambulances because the service was busy on emergency calls.

Mr Chandler was diagnosed with the tumour 10 years ago and has suffereed severe fits on a daily basis, and became partially paralysed.

The operation to remove the tumour was initially successful, but recently he has suffered more severe symptoms and fears the tumour may have returned.

"Everything really depends on seeing the surgeon because we need to know what is going on and if he requires further treatment," said Mrs Chandler

"This has left Colin incredibly stressed. We've got no idea when we will be able to get another appointment and it may not be for a very long time.

"This could really have put his health at risk."

The family has approached the local MP, Virginia Bottomley, who said the case has left her "extremely concerned".

She will be writing to the chairman of Surrey Ambulance, Brian Smith, to demand an explanation.

The head of corporate affairs for Surrey Ambulance Service and the NHS Trust, Russell Kempton, has urged Mr and Mrs Chandler to put their complaint in writing to Surrey Ambulance.

"I don't want to say too much at this stage because we haven't heard anything from Mr and Mrs Chandler. But if they put it in writing, it will be treated as a formal complaint and will be fully investigated in line with NHS procedures.

"They will then receive a formal response from the chief executive within 21 days.

"We do not receive many complaints but we take those we do receive very seriously indeed."