A POWERFUL poster campaign was launched by ambulance bosses this week in a bid to put an end to assaults on Warrington's paramedics.

In what ambulance chiefs describe as a 'disturbing' trend, assaults on paramedics in Cheshire and Merseyside have risen to 75 in the last year - with 15 cases against staff based at Warrington Ambulance Station.

That is an increase of 17 per cent. Most of the assaults are drug or alcohol related.

Mersey Regional Ambulance Service has launched the campaign with 10,000 posters showing the results of an assault on a young female paramedic. They will be going up on buses and ambulances across the region.

Area Manager Ray Coutts said: "Assaults have been on the increase. A few years ago this was unheard of, but the times certainly have changed and it's quite disturbing.

"We are there to help people, not to be assaulted. We take it very seriously and, as well as the advertising campaign, we have decided that when a staff member is attacked, if they choose to press charges, we will back them all the way."

A number of cases have been taken to court and have ended in jail terms. Paramedics have also been given special training designed solely to remove them from the danger of an attack.

Chief executive David Todhunter said: "The number of assaults has risen year on year and we have already taken a number of measures to protect our staff, including issuing personal attack alarms and the provision of training in de-escalation and breakaway techniques.

"We take very seriously the question of the safety of our staff and always support those who have been attacked and encourage them to progress the prosecution of offenders."

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