A hospital has launched an investigation into how a disabled patient came to spend 25 hours languishing on a trolley in casualty.

Denis Boddy, a former detective chief inspector for Sussex Police, was admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton suffering from a chest infection.

But his family believe the 66-year-old's condition was seriously worsened by a lengthy wait before treatment.

His wife, Anne, who cares for her husband at their home in Nizells Avenue, Hove, has written to Brighton Health Care NHS Trust chief executive Stuart Welling, Hove MP Ivor Caplin and Health Secretary Alan Milburn to complain about her husband's treatment.

She said: "My husband served many years in the police facing many bad situations but I have never seen him treat anyone with such lack of humanity as shown during his visit to the hospital."

The ordeal began for Mr Boddy, who suffered a debilitating stroke five years ago, when he was referred to hospital by a doctor after suffering sharp pains in his abdomen.

Blood and urine tests were carried out and he was given a pain-killing injection before being sent back home at 7.30am the following day.

He returned at 4.20pm when the injection wore off and a second doctor called to his house thought he was suffering from a chest infection and wanted him to have an X-ray.

Mrs Boddy and the couple's daughter, Denise, who had come with them to hospital, waited until after 8pm but there was still no sign of him being taken to a ward.

After a sleepless previous night Mrs Boddy and her daughter were exhausted and decided to go home to get some rest.

They were horrified when they returned the next morning to find Mr Boddy was still on a trolley in the accident and emergency department.

Mrs Boddy said: "We came back to find him in worse shape than when we had left him. He could hardly breathe and was spitting up some sort of black sputum. He was in great pain and he was at an angle on the trolley with his feet up. He was wet through, cold and clammy."

Mr Boddy was eventually moved up to the digestive disorders wing just before 5.20pm that day, 25 hours after he had arrived.

Doctors on the ward discovered Mr Boddy had pneumonia and an infected gall bladder and he stayed in hospital for 13 days. He is now back at home.

Mrs Boddy added: "Once on the ward the nurses and all the staff were wonderful."

Trust spokesman Ian Keeber said: "We accept that this was an unacceptable length of time to be waiting for a bed and we apologise to both Mr and Mrs Boddy for what happened. The whole incident is now being thoroughly investigated and our chief executive will be writing to them as soon as it is finished."