AMBULANCE staff have had to deal with more of the most serious red calls in the first hours of 2015 than they did last year say service bosses.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service saw a six per cent rise in the number of those calls during the first eight hours of the year. In the 12 hours from 6pm on New Year’s Eve to 6am on New Year’s Day the service took 1,570 emergency calls, with 57 per cent happening after midnight.

Many of the red calls were alcohol-related.

Paul Mudd, Locality Director of A&E Operations at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “As always New Year’s Eve was a busy time for us and we received a high volume of alcohol-related calls.

“In the early hours of New Year’s Day we received a significant number of emergency calls to patients who had been assaulted while out celebrating. Clearly this is distressing for those involved, but it also places extra pressure on us and partner services.”