PARAMEDICS in our region have reported a huge increase in assaults taking place in the early hours of New Year’s Day as celebrations turned into drunken violence.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said its busiest period was between midnight and 2am, when crews were called to 47 assaults, a rise of 68 per cent on the same period last New Year’s Eve, which saw 28 incidents.

David Williams, deputy director of operations, said it was a prime example of when staff were caught up looking after people who had drunk excessively or sustained alcohol-fuelled injuries which could have been avoided.

“This year was no exception and in the early hours of New Year’s Day we received a significant number of emergency calls to patients who had been assaulted or fallen over.”