THE nephew of undefeated boxing world champion Joe Calzaghe was told he would have to wait at least an hour for an ambulance to take him to hospital after an accident, his family says.

They say they knew Jacques Calzaghe, three, from Cefn Fforest, was badly hurt, but were told it was not an emergency and they would have to wait at least an hour if they wanted an ambulance.

When he eventually got to hospital, Jacques was found to have a broken leg.

The youngster’s mother, Melissa Calzaghe, 34, does not know exactly how her son sustained his injuries, which happened as she was about to move him from his pushchair into her car outside The Cross Oak pub in Oakdale on Saturday.

They had had a family meal in the pub to celebrate her birthday and Jacques was at the rear of the car in his pushchair when the incident took place at around 7pm.

Mrs Calzaghe, who is married to Tim Thorne but known by her maiden name, said nobody saw what happened but shortly after a car drove past, they saw Jacques was on the ground screaming in pain.

She said they called the emergency services and when two paramedics arrived they examined her son.

Her mother-in-law, Julie Thorne, 54, said: "We could see something was wrong, he doesn’t usually make a fuss and he was obviously in pain.

"He was saying his leg was hurting and I told the paramedic his leg was broken."

Mrs Calzaghe said the paramedics told them they would not get an ambulance to take him to hospital for at least an hour.

She called her father, Newbridge-based boxing coach Enzo Calzaghe, who took them to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital where they discovered Jacques had broken his tibia and fibula bones.

He spent two nights in hospital and needed morphine to cope with the pain.

It was thought he would need an operation to pin his leg, but luckily the bones re-aligned by themselves and he is now recovering at home in plaster and using a wheelchair.

Mrs Calzaghe said: "I couldn’t drive him to hospital, I was traumatised. If this doesn’t count as urgent what does?"

An Ambulance Trust spokeman said: "Whilst we cannot comment on individual cases we apologise for any delay in this incident and we shall be investigating the matter. If the family wish to contact us directly, we will be happy to discuss the case with them."

Blackwood man reported for careless driving

A police spokesman said a car was driving past and hit a parked car’s wing mirror, after which a child was found on the ground beside his pushchair.

The police said there was no contact between the pushchair and the car.

Officers said an 18-year-old man from Blackwood was reported for careless driving and will be summoned to court.