Ambulance bosses have apologised after by-standers were denied access to a public defibrillator while attempting to save the life of a father who had collapsed in a Marlow park in March.

South Central Ambulance Service admitted the defibrillator access code should have been given out after Richard Brown had a heart attack while playing with his son in Higginson Park, but their priorities switched when the ambulance arrived and needed directing to the scene.

A spokesperson apologised for any concern caused, but insisted the access code had not been refused at any point.

A statement said: “Each 999 emergency call can only be reviewed on its own merit and CPAD access details provided accordingly.

“The system has been checked for this location and I can confirm that the CPAD (Community Public Access Defibrillator) access code is displayed as a special situation on the CAD system.

“On this occasion we did identify that our staff member was not at the patient’s side and at this point we should have instructed someone to retrieve it but at that time the primary focus was to get the clinician to the patient.

“We would like to apologise for any concern that this situation has caused and would l like to reassure you that the access code was not refused at any point.”

Luckily Mr Brown survived the ordeal, and contacted the BFP during his recovery to thank the emergency services and public for their help in looking after his young son, Matthew.