Architect Sam Wallace feels let down that police did not respond to his four 999 calls over a period of nearly 40 minutes and had to leave the drunken man.

The 24-year-old was travelling along The Drove in Collyweston when a Peugeot came off the A47, spun in front of him and went into a hedge.

When he dialled 999 he was told that he had gone through to Cambridgeshire call centre which was trying to contact the Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire forces.

All three forces say they have no record of his call but Northamptonshire said it spent more than an hour looking for the site but was given a wrong location in a separate call.

Mr Wallace, of Park Road, King’s Cliffe, said: “They are more than happy to sit there with speed cameras in Collyweston but when you actually need them they are not there for you at all.”

Mr Wallace said the driver was so drunk he could not start the car and blamed the accident on his dog.

His phone records show the first 999 call was made at 4.16pm and he made three more over 40 minutes. He says one operator suggested he take the keys from the driver but he felt this was not safe.

After making the final call at 4.52pm Mr Wallace and the other drivers who had stopped left the scene.

He said: “I feel really let down by the police who I thought were there to protect the public.”

Mr Wallace did pass on the car’s num-ber plate to police during the 999 calls.

Northamptonshire police, which covers Collyweston, said it received a call from a woman at 4.20pm about the incident and that this was diverted from Cambridgeshire.

A second call was received at 4.53pm. An officer arrived within half an hour but there was no sign of the drink driver by then. The search was called off after an hour.

Cambridgeshire Police said it had no record of a call from Mr Wallace but had been alerted by someone else and passed the details to Northamptonshire Police.