Northamptonshire Police respond to over a hundred 999 emergency call outs on Christmas Day

Christmas Day was as busy as any other for Northamptonshire's emergency services this year, who took hundreds of 999 calls from residents in trouble during the festivities.
By Alastair Ulke
Published 2nd Jan 2020, 18:21 BST
Updated 2nd Jan 2020, 18:28 BST
Incidents included over 100 emergency calls to the police and at least 50 to Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue.Incidents included over 100 emergency calls to the police and at least 50 to Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue.
Incidents included over 100 emergency calls to the police and at least 50 to Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue.

On the day of peace on Earth and goodwill to men, Northamptonshire Police were called out to 106 'grade 1' emergency incidents, and received 426 calls by residents ringing either 999 or 101.

Incidents included a smash-and-grab robbery at the Sainsbury's supermarket on Gambrel Road, where a fastened safe was pulled from the store's office wall and stolen.

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Meanwhile, the Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service took 50 emergency calls on December 25.

Northamptonshire's emergency services took hundreds of 999 calls on Christmas Day.Northamptonshire's emergency services took hundreds of 999 calls on Christmas Day.
Northamptonshire's emergency services took hundreds of 999 calls on Christmas Day.

However, Northampton's General Hospital saw a decline in visits saw a drop-off in visits to A&E on Christmas Day - but this marks a worrying year-on-year trend where people put off looking after themselves when they get unwell for fear of 'ruining the special day'.

In fact, visits to accident and emergency fell to 272 on December 25 - before bouncing back up to 368 visits on Boxing Day.

A spokeswoman for Northampton General Hospital said: “With the Christmas season and people visiting family and friends the likelihood of illnesses such as the flu, colds or diarrhoea and vomiting increases. We would encourage people to please make use of the NHS services in the community as soon as they begin to feel unwell, including online information, the NHS app for self-care, visiting your local pharmacy and the NHS 111 service.

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"We are thankful to all of our staff who are working hard to keep patients safe and to our local community NHS services for providing guidance and advice for patients who do not need urgent care”.

Meanwhile, the East Midlands Ambulance Service says it received more than 1,000 emergency calls during the first seven hours of 2020.