AMBULANCE crews in the North-East dealt with a record number of calls over Christmas.

The North-East Ambulance Service Trust's control room received more than 4,800 calls between Friday, December 22 and midnight on Boxing Day, up from 4,638 last year.

The majority of them were emergency calls.

The busiest day was December 22 - nicknamed "Mad Friday" - when many revellers chose to celebrate the start of the Christmas festivities. The control room received 1,128 calls in 24 hours, including more than 900 emergency calls.

On Christmas Day, crews dealt with 884 calls, the vast majority of which were 999 calls.

Paul Liversidge, director of ambulance operations for the trust, praised staff: "Christmas periods are a busy time for the North-East Ambulance Service and this year was no exception.

"We received a record number of calls on Friday, December 22, most of which were drink-related calls, which we received between 10pm and 3am.

"I would like to thank our staff as they have continued to approach their work with their usual good humour, hard work and determination.

"At this time of the year, our demand increases dramatically, so we urge members of the public not to call 999 unnecessarily.

"We receive calls which are clearly not appropriate for us, such as cut fingers and blisters on feet. These cases need some form of help but not an ambulance with fully-trained paramedics.

"These crews could be helping someone with a life threatening illness."