The county’s hospital authority missed a key A&E waiting time last week, figures released yesterday show.

Some 85.4 per cent of people who attended were admitted, transferred or discharged, against a target of at least 95 per cent.

This meant 329 of the 2,257 who attended Oxford’s John Radcliffe and Banbury’s Horton General Hospital waited longer than four hours.

It means Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust – which runs the hospitals – has hit the target only twice since October 20.