Up to 15 ambulances were left queuing to drop off patients at a crisis-hit Ayrshire hospital today.
Health chiefs have been forced to issue an "unreserved apology" after the chaotic scenes at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock.
Mercy crews were stacked up outside the hospital's A&E unit, with a hospital source reporting 15 vehicles waiting for access at 3pm.
One hour later, Ayrshire Live observed nine ambulances still at the scene.
Our source said: "The situation is now getting dangerous and surely something needs to be done ASAP."
Bosses at NHS Ayrshire & Arran have tonight admitted their service is creaking under "extremely difficult circumstances".
And last month, Nicola Sturgeon branded another patient's 84-hour wait for a bed in the same hospital as "clearly an unacceptable situation".
Bosses at NHS Ayrshire & Arran tonight failed to answer when questioned whether they had put a temporary restriction on the number of ambulances attending Crosshouse A&E per hour.
Joanne Edwards, the health board's Director of Acute Services, said: "At times, we experience a high demand for our unscheduled care services and our staff work hard to assess and treat patients as quickly as possible.
"We are aware that, unfortunately, sometimes patients have waited significantly longer than we would wish and we unreservedly apologise for that.
"This is not the care we aim to provide and our daily focus on discharges supports the flow of patients from our emergency departments.
"We would like to thank patients for their help and understanding as we continue to work under extremely difficult circumstances.
"If we all work together we can ensure that our Emergency Departments are there to look after those who need them most."
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
