An elderly woman with a suspected broken leg was left waiting on an ambulance for more than three hours on Thursday night,.
The woman was playing at Arbroath Indoor Bowling Club when she fell onto the rink just before 2pm.
Other bowlers dialled 999 immediately but she was forced to wait while lying on the ground for more than three hours for paramedics to arrive.
The Scottish Ambulance Service phoned the club back around 3.30pm to say the ambulance would be arriving within half an hour but it did not arrive at the Cairnie Road venue until after 5pm.
One bowler who saw the incident said: “This woman fell onto the rink and we think she maybe has a broken leg.
“We phoned the ambulance about 1.50 or 1.55pm but they were still not here at 4.30pm.
“There were folk who work here with her and her pal but it is shocking it is taking so long for an ambulance.
“She is conscious but what if she wasn’t?”
Club manager Jim Burnett was one of those looking after the woman after her fall.
Speaking before the woman was taken to hospital, he said: “The incident is not life-threatening but the lady has fallen on the floor and we are not allowed to move her.
“The ambulance service phoned and said there were two major incidents on the go so there is not a lot they can do until one is free.
“She is comfortable but the biggest problem is she is lying on the floor and there’s about 80 people in the stadium.
“It’s a bit ridiculous but if there are major incidents on the go, what can you do?”
An ambulance finally arrived after 5pm, ending the stricken woman’s ordeal.
In February last year, a Perthshire woman had to wait over two hours for an ambulance after falling unconscious in the Loch Tay area.
The woman collapsed with a blood pressure reading of 65/50 but it took two hours and 14 minutes for an ambulance to reach her.
The Scottish Ambulance Service prioritises life-threatening incidents and paramedics aim to reach such emergency calls within eight minutes.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “At the time of this call we were experiencing very high demand; all our calls are prioritised to ensure the sickest, most seriously ill patients are given the highest priority.
“We will be contacting the patient to apologise.”