REVELLERS flocked to the town centre to celebrate the start of the New Year.

Thousands of people came to Bolton late into the evening and into the early hours of New Year’s Day.

But the town was believed to be relatively quiet for what is one of the busiest evenings for the emergency services.

Fifteen of Bolton Mountain Rescue Team’s volunteers supported the North West Ambulance Service by using the charity’s four Land Rover ambulances and its minibus ambulances to respond to call-outs.

They attended 14 incidents in Bolton and Manchester from 9.30pm until around 4am.

Garry Rhodes, chairman of BMRT, said: “From midnight until 4am we dealt with 11 separate incidents. The incidents were in Manchester, Bolton town centre, Little Hulton and Wigan.

“Some of the injuries were through intoxication. Most of the 14 calls we received were relatively minor things.

“Two calls we received we got there and nobody was there. This is the 16th year we have supported the NWAS.”

He said members came across a two-car crash near Dunscar on Tuesday evening but none of the people in the cars wanted to be taken to hospital.

A woman in Heaton was taken to Royal Bolton Hospital in the early hours of New Year’s Day with suspected spinal injuries after she is believed to have fallen down some stairs.

A man helped by BMRT in Manchester city centre suffered a broken leg after falling.

Bolton’s Street Angels volunteers gave up their time to assist people in need in the town centre.

Adrienne Tonge, from Bolton Street Angels, said: “The evening was strange, it was very quiet until midnight. If it was a Saturday night we would have thought it was quiet.

“There was a few young people chancing it with the bars and clubs but quite a few groups were refused entry.

“We heard the pubs and clubs talking to each other over the radio to keep people out who weren’t behaving well. There were a couple of fracas that we saw but generally speaking it was surprisingly quiet.”

Volunteers helped a teenage boy who was found drunk in a back street. They cared for him in their Bradshawgate base before his family collected him.

They also gave first aid to a man who had fallen and hurt his hand. Girls who had become separated from their friends were also helped.

Bolton’s Street Angels will be relocating to its new base in Churchgate at The Safe Space Cafe on Saturday. They help revellers each Saturday of the year.