Safety warning to North East ahead of 'Black Eye Friday''

Services across the North East are gearing up for one of the busiest nights for pubs and clubs.

Tonight, there will be teams of people across our region waiting nearby for when things take a turn for the worse on so called 'Black Eye Friday'.

People like paramedic Richard Ilderton from the North East Ambulance Service.

He told Metro Radio his team will have to deal with some very serious cases and call outs they get which are drink related are going up year on year.

"We always know there is going to be that degree of people who are going to get drunk, vomit on the floor. On the night shift certainly you are going to spend a large portion of your time cleaning an ambulance. Telling people not to spit, and to not hit you."

Meanwhile Balance, the North East Alcohol Office, is calling on Government to act now to reduce the ‘unsustainable’ pressures faced by frontline services.

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), police forces and A&E departments across the region are bracing themselves for this weekend.

With additional resource and staffing needed to cope with the predicated demands.

This year measures include extra police patrols, police officers teaming up with paramedics, and leave cancelled for some of the emergency service teams throughout the Christmas period.

Lynn Pyburn, Assistant Contact Centre Manager at NEAS, said: “Someone who is suffering the effects of drugs or alcohol can divert our resources away from genuinely sick people. For every inappropriate call we receive, there’s someone genuinely ill waiting.”

Northumbria Police Superintendent Bruce Storey said: "The last Friday before Christmas is always busy ... There is an incredible atmosphere in the city centre at this time of year, and while we don't want to spoil the party spirit, we do ask that people act responsibly, stay in control of their actions and look out for each other."