A seriously unwell pensioner who suffered an anaphylactic shock from a bee sting says call handlers took 10 minutes to answer the 999 call.

Caroll Taylor, 70, says he is lucky to be alive after he was stung by a bee while gardening at his home in Goudhurst Road, Marden.

The former insurance broker, who has no history of allergies, credits his survival to an out-of-date EpiPen and to the timely intervention of an air ambulance crew, based nearby in Marden.

As his wife Judith desperately tried to summon assistance the initial call was answered instantly, but he says once they had specified they needed an ambulance, the call just rang and rang.

He said: “I was cutting back a pyracantha and I felt a jab on my wrist inside my gardening glove.

“I thought it was a shrub spike but it was a sad looking bee which had stuck me on my right hand.”

Mr Taylor went to his wife, with whom he was celebrating his 36 anniversary. She removed the sting, but he began to feel unwell.

"There was instantly an answer saying ‘which service do you want’ and then it just rang and rang" - Caroll Taylor

“I went down to the house but within a couple of minutes I began struggling to breathe a bit.

“The tops of my feet started burning really hot, and as soon as I got into the house I was sweating profusely.”

Mr Taylor’s wife, who works as a bee keeper, gave him an old EpiPen jab and phoned 999. The EpiPen works by increasing blood pressure and relaxing lung muscles to make breathing easier, and stimulating the heart.

Speaking of the call, on September 2, he said: “There was instantly an answer saying ‘which service do you want’ and then it just rang and rang.”

Desperate, Mrs Taylor contacted a neighbour for help. After about 10 minutes she was finally connected to a call handler. They initially dispatched an ambulance but this was recalled after he fainted and the team of helicopter medics attended in minutes.

Mr Taylor was found to have dangerously low blood pressure.

Mr Taylor added: “The skilled treatment by the air ambulance crew and subsequently the ambulance personnel cannot be faulted, nor that of Maidstone Hospital who stabilised my condition.

"What is completely unacceptable is the non-compliance with the supposed five-second wait for the ambulance centre to answer the phone and to start helping my wife.

“Bearing in mind the recent revelations concerning the management of the Coxheath centre, this sounds like yet another failing.”

In a response to Mr Taylor’s complaint, the trust has apologised and pledged to launch an investigation. The trust aims to answer 95% of emergency calls in five seconds.

A spokesman said:“We are extremely sorry it took us longer than it should have to answer this call. We take all concerns raised seriously and have recently been contacted regarding our response.

“At times of high demand all our 999 call handlers may all be busy dealing with emergency calls, meaning there are times calls will queue to be answered. We have established procedures with the BT 999 operator that if any caller is very distressed while waiting, then BT can highlight these calls to the emergency operations centre to prioritise the answering of these calls.

"While on hold callers will be told they are connected to the ambulance service and in order to received emergency assistance they should please not hang up.

“We offer our sincere apologies to the patient and his family for the undoubted distress and anxiety the delay caused in what must already have been a very worrying situation.”