Ambulance service managers in Oxfordshire have denied guaranteeing to provide paramedic cover at a horse and dog show.

Organisers of Cholsey and Moulsford Horse and Dog Show claimed Oxfordshire Ambulance Service had agreed to attend the event, then failed to turn up.

But ambulance service spokesman Aubrey Bell said no contract had been signed to provide the event with paramedic cover on Saturday.

He said: "We weren't able to send an ambulance. We had a huge operational commitment at the Party in the Park in Oxford on Sunday and, on top of that, we had a very busy Saturday.

"If somebody requests our attendance, we try to ensure we are there, but we do not guarantee it without a contract.

"If there has been a breakdown in communication in this case, we will make sure that it doesn't happen again."

The show, which raised cash for Oxford's Douglas House Hospice and the Buckinghamshire-based Home of Rest for Horses, took place on land at Manor Farm, Cholsey, and attracted 150 riders and 300 spectators.

The organisers said they had booked the ambulance crew to treat riders in the event of a fall.

One of them, Liz Cockman, 47, said she had made more than ten calls to the ambulance service since January, to seek confirmation that paramedics would attend.

She said she received repeated assurances that a crew would be there, and arranged to pay more than £500 for cover, but was shocked to be told on the day that no crew could be found.

She added: "Oxfordshire Ambulance Service offered us a full paramedic service and confirmed five days earlier that they would be coming.

"I was so angry and felt dreadfully let down. We probably shouldn't have gone ahead with the show, but luckily we had lots of first-aiders."