PRAISE is in order for ambulance staff and volunteers across the region who handled 8,513 incidents over the busy Easter weekend.

Call handlers in the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s (EEAST) control rooms received more than 11,700 emergency calls over the four-day weekend while on the roads there were more than 8,500 incidents.

In 2016, the trust sent a response to 9,188 incidents across the East of England with 3,840 of those being in Essex, compared with 3,794 this year.

Saturday was the trust’s busiest day with more than 3,000 calls received - 200 less than last year - with 2,826 calls on Good Friday and 2,801 on Easter Monday.

Robert Morton, chief executive of EEAST said; “My thanks to all of my colleagues and our volunteers for their continual hard work during another busy bank holiday weekend.

"We still continue to remind the public to consider alternate pathways such as 111, walk-in centres, GPs, and pharmacists if the call is not a genuine medical emergency.”