Council groundsman Terry Lewis endured a trip of over 80 miles when he visited his doctor last week.

Mr Lewis, 57, from Avon Terrace, Devizes, was alarmed when his left arm suddenly swelled up.

His local surgery, Southbroom told him to go to a minor injuries unit and, because the unit at Devizes Hospital has closed, Mr Lewis and his mother, Elsie, took a taxi to the MIU at Chippenham Hospital.

He said: “It cost me £30. When I got there they said they couldn’t X-ray my arm because it was after 5pm. So we got the taxi back home and my daughter’s boyfriend took us to Swindon.”

But even at Great Western Hospital, all did not go smoothly.

Mrs Lewis said: “They were very good but he had to see a lot of different people. And, of course, there was all the waiting in between. It was 1.45am by the time we got home.”

Mr Lewis said: “If there still had been a minor injuries unit it wouldn’t have taken anywhere near as long and I wouldn’t have had to pay out so much money.”

Mr Lewis still has to attend the out patients department in Swindon at a cost of £8.20 in fares.

His condition is described as similar to gout. There is no breakage.