AMBULANCE crews in East Lancashire are now as likely to face violence and attacks as their colleagues in the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, a shocking new study shows today..

There have been 46 violent incidents in the past three months alone involving Lancashire Ambulance Service staff.

And in the 12 months to the end of April the number of acts of aggression against 999 staff almost doubled.

The figures come as yet another paramedic was assaulted last night and received hospital treatment.

The ambulanceman was punched after a crew arrived in Greenway Street, Darwen at 8pm, to treat a road accident victim.

The medic was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary and a second ambulance was called to treat the victim.

A man was arrested and held overnight for questioning.

Health chiefs today issued a plea to the public to leave their staff alone and warned offenders will be prosecuted.

A new county report -- which collates figures up the end of April -- reveals 112 incidents of violence to staff were reported in 2000/01.

The figure the year before was just 68. Incident figures include physical aggression, extreme verbal abuse and threatening behaviour -- sometimes all at the same time.

And the service's risk manager Frank Whiteford revealed today there had already been a further 46 incidents in April, May and June -- suggesting another massive rise is on the way this year.

Peter Cooney, director of human resources with the Lancashire Ambulance Service, said increasing violence was a worrying trend, and the North West's Unison representative for ambulance workers said it showed how dangerous the job had become. The biggest increase in aggression was in "extreme verbal abuse" which jumped from 53 reported incidents in 1999/2000 to 87 last year.

Mr Cooney said: "We take these incidents very seriously and we want to get 100 per cent reported. Verbal abuse is still under reported. There is training for all front-line personnel in violence-avoidance techniques .

"If staff are feeling threatened they can withdraw their services. It can be very distressing for them. They don't expect to come to work to be abused and thumped."

He said offenders would be prosecuted. But he admitted finding them was a major stumbling block.

He said: "The perpetrator could be a bystander in the pub or just someone in town and not necessarily the person we have been called out for."

Risk manager Mr Whiteford added: "What's particularly worrying these days is the venom of the attacks."

He said incidents in the last 12 months have included:

Colne paramedic David Mitchell was attacked as he helped stretcher a young woman to an ambulance in Brierfield. A young man who was with her kicked him in the kidneys and badly bruised his ankle. Mr Mitchell was off work for 10 days.

An ambulance crew was pelted with plastic bottles by youngsters when it went to pick up a child at a Blackburn high school A man who was taken unconscious from the grounds of Blackburn Cathedral attacked ambulancemen when he came to. Police had to be called

When a crew was called to a possible overdose victim in Blackburn she was found on the floor and as they tried to get her on to the bed she became very aggressive and violent. She scratched the arms of both crew, causing risk of infection.

Stephanie Thomas, the North West's Unison representative for ambulance workers, said that in Greater Manchester there was 119 incidents last year, and there was a similar figure for Merseyside. The number of incidents -- now 112 -- in Lancashire had in the past always been a lot lower, and now that they were nearly the same they would investigate the reasons.

"It is a massive jump," she said, "but it's showing how dangerous the job has become -- people shouldn't have to work and risk being assaulted."