UPDATE - Ex-boyfriend of Peckham pregnant woman who lost baby after attack appears in court

A heavily pregnant woman who lost her baby after she was repeatedly kicked in the stomach in a "sickening" attack in a Peckham street was forced to wait more than an hour for an ambulance that never arrived.

London Ambulance Service has apologised after admitting police were forced to take the 21-year-old to hospital themselves when after an hour and 10 minutes of waiting the ambulance had still not attended.

The victim, named in reports as Malorie Bantala, later lost her baby in hospital and remains in a critical condition following the attack near her home on Monday night.

A spokeswoman for London Ambulance Service said: "We were called at 8.16pm on 15 June to Talfourd Place, SE15.

"We are very sorry that we were unable to send an ambulance before we were cancelled by the police at 9.25pm and are now looking into the circumstances of what happened."

She confirmed that the LAS did not attend and that police officers took the woman to a south London Hospital.

The spokeswoman said the first 999 call from a member of the public was assessed to be a "lower priority call" - or a category C call.

Miss Bantala, who was 32 weeks pregnant, was walking down Talfourd Place at around 8pm on Monday (June 15) when she was approached by two men wearing crash helmets.

They pushed her to the ground and repeatedly kicked and stamped on her stomach.

The attackers then ran off in the direction of Denmark Road.

A member of the public called police who administered first aid at the scene.

Scotland Yard said there was a "strong likelihood" the men were trying to kill the unborn child and the attack was being treated as "akin to murder".

A 20-year-old man from south London, who was arrested on suspicion of child destruction and GBH, is being questioned by police.

Investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Robert Pack said: "This was a truly abhorrent and vile attack on a heavily pregnant woman who has now, tragically, lost her baby.

"The men who attacked her must have known the impact their actions would have when they kicked her repeatedly in the stomach.

“It is sickening to think someone would deliberately target a pregnant woman in this way.”

Describing it as a “brutal assault”, the Met Police said the two suspects were black men aged in their 20s.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8345 3985 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.