IT'S hard to imagine how anybody, even a sales assistant who had a shop full of customers and was rushed off their feet, could be heartless enough to refuse to phone for an ambulance after a woman had collapsed.

But this, according to Peter Jarvis who is the sick woman's husband, is what happened when a staff member at H Samuel's Regent Street jewellery shop was asked for help.

We don't blame the company. It cannot be held responsible for the cold attitude of one of its employees.

But it's reassuring to know that it has launched an investigation. And we hope the employee concerned will have the good grace to express shame for their refusal to help which seems callous in the extreme.

Patricia Jarvis, who had already been an in-patient at Princess Margaret Hospital after a heart attack, is back in PMH and fortunately her condition was described today as comfortable.

It is now pointless to speculate what might have happened to her if somebody outside the shop had not used their mobile to summon help.

But the Peter Jarvis is right when he says the attitude of the shop worker seems totally out of order.

The bouquet which H Samuel is now sending to Mrs Jarvis might well cheer her up. But it's hardly adequate compensation for what happened.