A PENSIONER lay helpless in the snow for an hour waiting for an ambulance after slipping on ice on the Itchen Bridge.

The man, pictured above, believed to be in his 60s, broke his ankle in a fall on the city centre side of the bridge – and had nothing but a dog blanket to keep him warm while he waited for paramedics to arrive.

Several drivers pulled their vehicles over and walkers stopped to help the man, who fell at about 9.30am South Central Ambulance said it had seen a rise in the number of injuries as a direct result of the poor weather, and was now bringing in 4x4 vehicles to access difficult areas.

A spokeswoman added: “We are doing our very best to get to people who need our help but like everyone else the snow is causing us problems.

We are asking members of the public to bear with us at this time.”