London Ambulance Service has apologised after a woman died in her home while waiting more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive.

The patient, who has been named as 57-year-old Monica Lewis from Croydon, had reportedly had a severe epileptic fit at about 12.30am on Friday.

A responder in a car and an ambulance were sent to her address but as she was still conscious and breathing both vehicles were cancelled and sent to other calls.

From October 2013: Family "let down" after missionary dies following one hour ambulance wait

When the LAS called to check on Ms Lewis’s condition at 1.16am the call was upgraded to a higher priority and a responder in a car was sent.

They arrived 23 minutes later, an hour and 10 minutes after the first call to 999 was received.

But Ms Lewis was in cardiac arrest and died at the scene.

A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Mr Smith.

“[When we arrived] the patient was in cardiac arrest, despite extensive efforts from our staff to resuscitate her, sadly she died at the scene.

“We are very sorry that we were unable to send an ambulance response any sooner.”