THERE was a sudden rise in calls to the ambulance service at the weekend.
East Midlands Ambulance Service was called out 2,384 times on Friday – 457 more than on a typical Friday.
The service said it was expecting the increase in demand to continue over Christmas and into the new year.
A spokesman said: "Christmas is traditionally a time of high demand as people finish work and start to party. Sadly, many of the patients we dealt with had their night out spoilt and some will even be spending Christmas in hospital rather than with their family and friends."
He urged people to call 999 only in cases of genuine life-threatening emergencies.
