How to cancel $http call after some amount of time (The time in pending state)

Question

function getItems () {
            $http
                .get('/someURL)
                .success(function (response) {
                   //Function body on success
                    $timeout(getItems, 1000);
                })
                .error(function (response) {
                     //Function body on error
                    $timeout(getItems, updateDelay);
                });
}

I have the following function with timeout which makes a call every sec. I want to cancel the http call if it taking more than 3-4 sec and recall the function to make the call again. Thanks in advance.