CHRISTMAS party-goers are being urged by ambulance chiefs to be sensible when out in town this ‘Mad Friday.’

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said ‘Mad Friday’ is one of its busiest nights of the year and wants to avoid unnecessary 999 calls.

Last year, the ambulance service dealt with over 1,900 emergency incidents between 6pm on Friday, December 22 and 6am the following morning.

This is an 11 per cent increase on the previous year’s ‘Mad Friday’, a number expected to be even higher this year.

Ged Blezard, director of operations for NWAS, said “Christmas is a time to enjoy together and many of us like to get merry with a few drinks.

“We’re not trying to stop anyone from having a good time but we are asking for party people to plan ahead and know their limits when they are drinking alcohol to avoid the need for an ambulance.

“We do have extra resources in place during evenings that we expect will be especially busy including the last weekend before Christmas and New Year’s Eve.”