PICTURE GALLERY: Photos from the celebrations outside York Minster>>

THOUSANDS of revellers gathered in York to see in the New Year.

Despite cold weather and the results of a recent survey suggesting most people were planning to celebrate the arrival of 2015 at home, many locals and visitors took to the city's streets to celebrate in public.

One of the busiest areas in York was the Minster, with a huge crowd gathering throughout the night in Duncombe Place to join celebrations with strangers, friends and family at the stroke of midnight, when the Minster's bells rang out and fireworks burst in the sky to mark the end of 2014.

Around the region, celebrations which got out of hand saw a heavy impact on North Yorkshire's emergency services, with the Ambulance Service reporting an average of about two emergency calls each minute.

A spokesman said the majority were alcohol related, and many were due to revellers being assaulted during the celebrations.

North Yorkshire Police were also busy throughout the night, with the Force Control Room taking a high volume of calls.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Kennedy took to social media to praise staff at the control room and on the streets, tweeting: "Big thank you to all officers & @NYPControlRoom for a superb job last night. Very busy into the early hours and staff still busy today."