An investigation has been launched after an ambulance called at a widow's home to pick up her husband for a hospital appointment nearly four years after his death.

Denise Keeley, 65, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, said she was disgusted when the ambulance arrived at her door to collect her husband George for a podiatry appointment at Newark Hospital. Mr Keeley, an engineer, died from lung cancer in February 2008 aged 72.

East Midlands Ambulance Service has launched an investigation into the incident.

Mrs Keeley said: "My husband had never been for any such appointments. I took his death badly at the time and, you know, you just get on with life, and then this comes and brings it all back. I'm very upset. If it had happened six months after his death I'd have been finished.

"I saw George's name on the pick-up list along with our address and postcode and was told the ambulance had been requested by Barnby Gate Surgery in Newark. We had never used that surgery."

A spokeswoman from the surgery confirmed that they had booked an ambulance two weeks in advance, but for a different patient at a different address. They have apologised to Mrs Keeley and confirmed they have no records of her nor her husband.

A spokesman for East Midlands Ambulance Service said: "We appreciate that this must have been a distressing event for Mrs Keeley and are now looking into why a non-emergency vehicle mistakenly called at her address.

"As soon as we've established the circumstances, we will write to her with a full explanation."