Essex ambulance crews were stretched over the Christmas period with an average of 100 extra calls a day.

The emergency service normally answers about 400 calls every day, but this increased to 500 during the festive time.

Many of the calls were to genuine emergencies but there are also some to flu victims. During its peak on Thursday, December 23, it dealt with 590 patients which meant every available ambulance and crew being fully stretched all day.

There was no rest for the crews on Christmas Day, with 534 emergency calls to attend. The Essex Air Ambulance has also been fully occupied with both emergency calls and hospital transfers over the holiday period.

Chief executive Gron Roberts, said: "We have been struggling to cope at times and this additional demand has meant some longer response times than normally would be the case. Volunteer extra crews and officers have been working flat out and it is mainly thanks to their efforts that we have been able to meet the demand."

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