THOUSANDS have been spent on fire services helping to move obese people in West Yorkshire over five years.

And the number of cases nationwide nearly doubled over the same period, with unions saying ambulance staff and equipment are being pushed to their limits.

Figures from the Home Office show that the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service attended 35 callouts for bariatric assistance – helping ambulance crews to move obese people – between April 2012 and March 2017.

While they represent a small portion of the service’s 14,000 non-fire incidents over the last few years, the vast majority of callouts took more than 45 minutes to resolve. Of those, four incidents were over four hours long.

Firefighters often need lifting equipment and special slings to transport people.