An ambulance took seven hours to get to the home of a man who had died in his room.

When house mates of Shaun Wright, 31, did not get a response after repeatedly knocking on his door they dialled 999.

They couldn't get into his room and were told an ambulance would get to them as soon as possible.

That was just after 9pm last Saturday.

An ambulance didn't arrive until gone 4am on Sunday and police, who should have been alerted at the same time to the concern for welfare call, were even later.

They eventually got to the halfway house in Dale Street, Chatham, at 5.40am.

Paramedics broke the door down on their arrival and found former gambling addict Mr Wright, who had been moved to the property from Margate five months ago after leaving prison, dead in his bed.

A house mate said he had struggled with his mental health in the days before the incident and had expressed his intention to kill himself.

Mr Wright had not been seen since Friday evening and it is believed he may have been dead before the emergency services were called.

South East Coast Ambulance Service spokesman Rich Airey said the trust would not comment on details of a private call out.

He did say: "We take all concerns raised seriously and would invite anyone with any concerns to contact us directly so that we can look into them in more detail.

"We prioritise our calls based on information provided by the caller and we are sorry when we take longer than we would want to attend a call.”

Kent Police spokesman James Walker confirmed police were called by the ambulance service at 9.13pm and informed about a medical incident in Dale Street.

He added: “Officers liaised with the ambulance service to get an update on the circumstances and at around 5am were notified a man had been found deceased at the property by paramedics.”

The death is not being treated as suspicious and a report is being prepared for the coroner.

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Residents at the property were left to clear a blood-soaked mattress from Mr Wright's room.

Management company Paramount Independent Property Services' out of hours service were told about the death on Sunday morning.

Neighbours said due to the smell the three men living there were forced to drag bedding outside.

It sat in the front garden in view of everyone on the street and was collected on Monday but a cleaner only arrived at the terraced house, home to recently released offenders and homeless men, on Tuesday morning, despite repeated calls to Paramount.

Soon afterwards an employee showed up in an unmarked van to take down a Paramount sign.

When asked why he responded it was "due to media interest".

Paramount, which manages hundreds of properties across Kent, declined to comment out of respect for Mr Wright's family.

House mates of Mr Wright have paid tribute to a man who helped them find their feet after they arrived.

Alfie Mitchell, 18, described him as a "great guy" who he'd regularly chat to over a cup of coffee.

Mr Mitchell and the two other men in the property have now clubbed together to buy a bunch of flowers which are taped to the house's front door.

Neighbour Levi Verrall, 26, has also left flowers.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, had only been living in the house for two days when he had to phone the ambulance after Mr Wright did not respond.

He said: "As soon as I came here Shaun helped me. He'd lend me clothes and cigarettes.

"I'd been living in a tent for four weeks before developing pneumonia and almost dying. Obviously I smelt pretty bad and Shaun was kind enough to sort me out.

"I spoke to him a lot in the two days I was here with him. He told me he hated living there having moved down from Margate.

"The night before I phoned the ambulance he was in a really bad way and saying he just wanted to take loads of pills and not wake up. I calmed him down and he went to bed.

"Later on he was shaving and seemed completely fine. That was the last time I saw him."