'Why did police take 15 hours to act on my dying girl's 999 calls?' asks father

The 32-year-old, who had fought mental illness for years, had taken an overdose of sleeping tablets and anti-depressants after a row with her brother.

When the realisation of what she had done began to sink in, she twice called 999.

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But it was to be 15 hours before police visited her home and by then it was far, far too late.

Even a third call, asking for the ambulance service, failed because paramedics refused to attend unless police accompanied them.

The police were too busy.

At some stage after this final cry for help Miss Claxton slipped into unconsciousness and died.

Last night, Miss Claxton's father, Leslie, 55, said: "My daughter was at a low point in her life - but when she needed help, it wasn't there.

"The police knew she had taken an overdose and must have known there was a good chance that this would kill her.

"But instead of acting on this immediately, they did nothing.

"What could be more important than trying to save someone's life?

"The ambulance service knew the seriousness of her plight.

"I'm told it tried to get the police to go immediately, but was told officers were tied up dealing with other incidents.

"The police need to get their priorities right.

"Until we have an inquest into her death, which may not be for another year, I will be left in the dark about what actually happened."

It is thought that paramedics could not attend without a police escort because of safety rules.

Miss Claxton, who worked in a bingo hall and a fast-food restaurant before her health forced her to stop, took an overdose at her home in Hayes, West London, on December 8 last year, at about 9pm.

When police arrived around noon the next day they knocked on the door but left after no one responded.

Miss Claxton's boyfriend, Danny McColl, finally found her body in her bedroom seven hours later.

During the previous evening she had repeatedly tried to call Mr McColl, 39, but he had not heard his mobile phone.

He later discovered up to 17 missed calls on his phone and tried to call her back.

When there was no answer, he went to her house and discovered her body.

The fatal delay in responding to her 999 calls, which has been blamed on teething problems in the Metropolitan Police's new £80million 999 call-handling system, has been investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

David Petch of the IPCC said: "The independent investigation was concluded on August 2. Its findings were that no officers or police staff should be subject to misconduct."

Earlier this year it emerged that victims of crime who dial 999 in the capital are waiting up to ten minutes to be put through to police.

They were kept on hold because the Met's three new call centres, which replaced its 32 police operators, cannot cope with the number of emergencies.