NHS staff are four times more likely to be attacked than most other workers.

The shocking figures from the Commons Public Accounts Committee put the lifesavers second only to the police and security services.

Frontline ambulance workers and nurses are the most likely to face some type of assault.

Ambulance crews in north Essex, routinely on the wrong end of violence, have called on boozy revellers to have more respect for the emergency services. On Friday night, a drunken man in his forties tried to assault a female paramedic in Oxford Road, Clacton.

He was restrained by Tendring’s duty operations manager, Steve Box, until police arrived. Mr Box said: “Every Friday and Saturday night shift you get someone swearing at you, a lot of it due to alcohol and drugs.

“If these people saw you the next day, 95 per cent would be mortified if told what they’d done.

“I think the majority of people respect us. But there is an element that doesn’t and we have to deal with all walks of life.”

Mr Box was assaulted in Valley Road, Clacton, while working over Christmas in 2005. He was punched in the face as he went to check on a man who appeared to be unconscious.

He said: “Physical assaults aren’t that common, but it probably happens once a month.

“You never know what is going to happen when you are called out. Some people have been in the job 27 years and have never been assaulted.”

Crews were called to 44 incidents in Colchester and Tendring between between 11pm on Friday and 4am on Saturday.

Pete Bumphrey, operations manager for Colchester, described the High Street and Queen Street as a “battleground” on Friday and Saturday nights.

He said: “You think you wouldn’t want to walk down there if you weren’t drinking.

“We get a lot of calls to that area between midnight and 4am to those who drink far too much, people who are assaulted and others who fall. They drink so much they have no self-control and are not aware of their own safety.

“The drinking culture costs the whole NHS and is not unique to Colchester. Colchester can be a challenge, but it is a nice town – others are a lot worse.’’ Mr Bumphrey praised Safer Colchester Partnership’s SOS Bus for having a massive impact on reducing the burden of alcohol-related cases on Colchester General Hospital’s accident and emergency department.

He described the bus as a “godsend” for the ambulance service.

In just 15 minutes on Saturday night, volunteers helped three revellers. An 18-year-old man was treated for a cut foot after treading on glass in a nightclub.

A 22-year-old was tended for a cut chin after a nightclub assault. He was taken to hospital by the SOS minibus, which avoided using an ambulance.

Mr Bumphrey said: “Colchester has a good level of police, door security staff are good and in communication with each other and there are fantastic volunteers, such as the Street Pastors and SOS bus.”

Carla Amey, an SOS bus team leader, said: “Our prime goal is to take pressure off A and E. We are in contact with CCTV and door staff and have St John Ambulance volunteers on board.

“There’s something great about giving something back to the community, by providing that place of safety.’’