An off-duty nursing assistant claims callous motorists ignored a man lying in the middle of a busy road, despite her attempts to stop the traffic.

Carol M.D Saunders, who works on Perry Ward at KEMH, feared the man – who appeared drunk – would be run over and killed.

She came across the scene near Paget Ice Queen as she was riding to work from her Warwick home around 6.50 a.m on Monday.

"I saw what I thought was a piece of cloth in the road but it was a man. I dropped my bike and ran to this man's aid. The man was drunk and I said 'Lord, I don't know what to do.' I was trying to stop the traffic coming off South Shore Road and Middle Road but a lot of people nearly ran over this man. Not one person stopped to help. I started to cry – tears came into my eyes," she said.

"I don't know if they thought I was trying to rob him, but I had my uniform on and no-one stopped to help him. I couldn't believe it. I was frightened for him."

After several minutes passed another female motorist stopped and came to her aid, turning out to be a nurse from KEMH. Miss Saunders said the man – who looked to be in his 50s – got up from the road and staggered into Ice Queen.

A Police officer arrived at the scene shortly afterwards, but she was upset by the way he handled the incident.

"I told him what had happened and the Police officer did not say thank you. He was saying (the man in the road) was a 'frequent flyer' but to me he was a human being. He didn't ask me for nothing, he just said 'I'll take over from here'. He didn't take my name," claimed Miss Saunders, who later called Hamilton Police station to complain.

She reported that both the officer at the scene and another one called her last night to apologise.

A Police spokesman told The Royal Gazette: "The officer's first concern was to the individual that was in an incoherent state. Their first concern was getting this individual to a place of safety. We thank the members of the public that did stop to assist this gentleman. We are grateful for any public assistance we receive in our line of work."

No arrests were made.