Record Hogmanay calls for Scottish ambulance service

Extra ambulance crews were deployed to deal with the surge in calls

Bosses at the Scottish Ambulance Service said they have had their busiest New Year on record with 3,141 calls to their three emergency centres.

That represents a 47% increase on last year's figure of 2,141.

The service, which has call centres in Edinburgh, Cardonald and Inverness, deployed extra ambulance crews and call takers to deal with the surge.

Pauline Howie, chief executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, said all staff had done a "fantastic job".

She added: "Hogmanay is always the busiest night of the year, but this year staff had to deal with record numbers across the country.

"Our contingency planning ensured that there were additional resources in place to deal with the demand and respond to patients in need."

Inverness, which covers Grampian and the Highlands and Islands, was particularly busy and handled additional overflow calls from Edinburgh and Cardonald during peak periods.

The 3,141 calls were registered between midnight and 0700 GMT on New Year's Day.