I thought I was saved when RAC picked me up – but then they left me stranded for NINE HOURS… I was freezing cold

A DRIVER has told how she was stranded alone at night for nine hours after her car broke down.

Joanna Mitchell, 37, was “petrified for her safety” when her Ford Fiesta ST broke down on the way home to Essex around 6pm.

She called the RAC for help and a recovery driver was able to take her as far as Newport Pagnell service station.

From there, she was told to wait for a second driver to take her home.

But when hours went by with no sign of help, Joanna began fearing for her safety out alone at night.

She told The Sun: “I was petrified, I was worried for my safety.

“I was so cold, I had no jacket and I was in a vest top with a really thin cardigan.”

Joanna was unable to turn the engine on to warm up for fear of overloading her engine – and the nearby service station had closed its shutters.

She added: “There were gentleman walking around my car and they were knocking their hips against it. I was laid in the backseat of the car.

“I felt vulnerable and I was scared, I called the RAC and told them I was cold.

“I told them I was only in a singlet and a little cardigan.

“The services I was in shut the shutters, I couldn’t even sit inside.

“Because my engine seized up in my car I couldn’t turn the engine on to get warm. I didn’t want to risk hurting my motor any more.

“I had to sit in the back of my car freezing cold.”

Joanna said a nearby good Samaritan stopped to ask if he could help.

“He said, ‘Give me ten minutes and I’ll go and get you a blanket’. And he left me,” she added.

“Ten minutes later, he didn’t only bring me a blanket back, he brought me a jumper. A huge, thick fleece.

“I was so cold, I had no jacket. I don’t know how to thank him.”

The RAC’s driver didn’t pick her up until 3.20am.

He was supposed to take her to a third drop-off point – but insisted on driving her the whole way “whether the company likes it or not”.

An RAC spokesperson said: “We’ve apologised to Joanna for the time it took to get her home and she has accepted our gesture of goodwill.

“To be compliant with driver hours restrictions, longer recoveries require several separate recovery vehicles and drivers.

“To save Joanna time our driver agreed to take her all the way home, but in order to stay legal he had to take two breaks along the way.”