POLICE have dealt with almost 4,000 reported emergency incidents over the Easter weekend in West Yorkshire, the force has revealed.

That included 535 domestic incidents and 24 sexual offences.

There have also been arson attacks, burglaries and road crashes for officers to deal with.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Milsom of West Yorkshire Police, said: “It has been an extremely busy Easter Bank Holiday weekend in West Yorkshire in which officers have recorded nearly 4,000 emergency calls and taken on 6,033 investigations in just 72 hours.

“These have included extremely serious incidents such as sexual assaults, a number of domestic assaults and of course Sunday’s tragic fatal house fire in Wibsey.

“On top of that the force has also had football matches to manage and has provided enhanced night time patrols in city centres on what is always a very busy weekend.

"It is no secret that police numbers are lower than they once were, and our officers have been working extremely hard over the past three days to keep our communities safe. When we are this busy it is even more important that we use our valuable resources wisely and only attend genuine incidents.

"We have taken several hoax calls over the past three days. I would ask residents to please only ring police when appropriate and warn those who make hoax calls that those calls will be investigated and we will prosecute those who make them.”