AMBULANCE teams received 107 emergency calls across Worcestershire and Herefordshire on 'Mad Friday'.

This represented a 16 per cent fall in the number of 999 calls compared to the same night in 2014.

West Midlands Ambulance Service claimed its "good planning" and use of "considerably more resources" helped keep the public safe.

'Mad Friday' is one of the busiest nights of the year for pubs and clubs as people hit the town for pre-Christmas partying - and ambulance crews said it was "very busy" across the region.

Nathan Hudson, gold commander for the evening, said: “First of all, I’d like to thank our staff for their fantastic response to a very challenging evening.

"They worked really hard in often difficult circumstances dealing with patients who were often very much the worse for alcohol.

“We put a lot of planning into the evening and everything worked very well, which ensured we were able to provide a high level of service to patients, right across the region.

“I’d also like to thank the public, who in the main, followed our advice and looked after their friends who they were out with.

“It certainly looked like people were having a good time and celebrating Christmas, which is exactly what we were hoping they would be able to do.”

The figures for 999 calls received relate to 8pm on Friday (December 18) to 4am on Saturday (December 19) compared to the same period in 2014.