Sick or injured revellers celebrating the New Year in Bradford will get on-the-spot treatment from a new mobile city centre medical team.

Ambulance chiefs have joined forces with the St John Ambulance to set up a treatment station in Centenary Square on New Year's Eve following a successful pilot scheme in Leeds last year.

The initiative is part of planning for Millennium celebrations next year and could be extended to other parts of West Yorkshire amid fears there could be a three or four-fold rise in demand for medical services.

The scheme will relieve pressure on the ambulance service and hard-pressed staff in Accident and Emergency at Bradford Royal Infirmary who face one of the busiest nights of the year on December 31.

Roy Lawrence, an accident and emergency director for the Birkenshaw-based West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service, said a unit in City Square, Leeds, was successfully set up last year staffed by doctors and first-aiders from St John Ambulance to deal with ill and injured revellers.

"We were very pleased with the way the pilot scheme went last year so we have decided to extend it this year to Bradford," he said.

"It's all part of our planning for the Millennium celebrations when we hope to roll out the scheme to other major towns and cities in West Yorkshire."

Tony Shenton, accident and emergency consultant at BRI, said New Year's Eve was usually quiet until shortly after midnight when there was a huge influx of patients, mainly suffering from alcohol-related injuries. The department remained busy until 6am.

"It's a good idea dealing with small scuffs and scrapes following minor incidents which actually don't need to be seen by a doctor and will take the pressure off us," he said.

"There tends to be a sudden explosion of casualties at about 12.30am at New Year. The same is also true of Christmas morning which is sad in the sense that people are getting into difficulties when they are supposed to be out enjoying themselves.''

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