'Booze bus' goes on patrol

The London Ambulance Service vehicle has been brought in to help relieve the pressure on A&E departments, which are struggling to cope because of the winter illness season.

The alternate response vehicle, nicknamed the "booze bus", targets drunk people and allows other emergency services to concentrate on genuine emergencies.

It comes after Peter Bradley, the national director of ambulance services, said the entire health system was suffering with the situation made particularly bad by the Christmas and New Year party season.

The bus - which operates throughout this month - adds to the LAS "field hospital", installed beside Platform 10 at Liverpool Street station.

The bus is the idea of paramedic team leader Brian Hayes, who, along with technician Jason Barr and A&E support Cheryl Aggarwal, were yesterday and today patrolling the West End looking for vulnerable revellers during what is the capital's biggest party weekend.

One casualty was 26-year-old Tina, who was found slumped against a wall and vomiting just after 10.30pm having attended a Debenhams Christmas party at Café de Paris in Soho.

After all the necessary medical checks, she was propped in the back of the bus with a plastic bag around her neck.

Mr Hayes, who turned 39 during the 9pm to 7am shift today, said: "It is typical. If they are angry on the street we won't take them. I'm not prepared to put any of my crew in jeopardy because they have had too much to drink and want to fight.

"It is a nightmare. Our aim is to get the drunks off the streets and free up ambulances.

"It really puts you off drinking."

Mr Barr added: "It gets hairy, and we do get threatened.

"One man, a publican, threatened to put me in a wheelchair because I was trying to get him up off the floor. I was doing him a favour - there is no call for it."