A coroner has described the death of an elderly Canterbury woman while waiting over an hour for an ambulance, as deeply troubling

Rangiora resident Margaret Wells died of a heart attack in the early hours of September 20th 2020, while her and her husband Alfred waited 70 minutes for help.

Her husband called emergency services twice while her condition deteriorated, unable to follow the call handler's resuscitation instructions as he's a double amputee.

Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale says the wait was due to scarce ambulance resources and competing demands.