Elderly parents of Theatr Clwyd boss left waiting for help on motorway hard shoulder for eight hours.

Theatr Clwyd Artistic Director Tamara Harvey has thanked all those who offered to help her parents after they were left stranded by the side of the M40 for eight hours.

The elderly couple ended up being rescued by police following the breakdown of their VW Golf.

Charles Harvey, 80, and Celia Harvey, 73, were on their way back to London having visited their daughter near Mold.

The couples car broke down at around 3.30pm on Wednesday on M40 near Bicester.

They called for help from their insurers Zurich and were repeatedly told assistance on its way.

Tamara Harvey tweeted Zurich at 10pm on Wednesday saying: “My 80 year old parents’ car broke down at 3.30pm on the M40. They’ve been on the hard shoulder waiting for roadside assistance since then. It’s now after 10pm. What exactly are they paying you for? What will it take for you to rescue them?”

The couple were only rescued after 11pm when police were called, Tamara said; “Thank you everyone for your support & offers of help. The police have just picked them up & are taking them to nearest services.”

Zurich Insurance blamed to problem on their breakdown contractors Green Flag, saying: “We apologise to Mrs & Mrs (sic) Harvey and to you Tamara and your family as well. We will be urgently investigating with Greenflag how this happened.”

Green Flag responded on Twitter to Tamara saying: “Thanks for alerting us to the poor service your parents have received Tamara and I’m sorry we’ve let them down when they needed us the most.”

According to a report on the metro.co.uk website Tamara said her parents had been ‘sitting in the car on the hard shoulder despite the danger of passing vehicles because they are elderly and could not have waited on the side of the road in the cold.’

‘My dad isn’t very secure on his feet so I hope they didn’t get out of the car,’ she said.

Tamara told Deeside.com “Both Zurich and Greenflag have been very apologetic to my parents, at least in private, though neither company has yet confirmed what compensation they will be offering.  

The one positive to come out of all of this is the support and advice given by both strangers and friends, even going so far as to offer to deliver supplies to the hard shoulder of the M40!  

The world of insurance may be shockingly slow to respond but the world of social media was, on this occasion, generous and speedy.”

Picture: getthechance.wales