EMERGENCY health services in Bolton have had their busiest Christmas on record.

More than 1,100 people arrived at Accident and Emergency over the Christmas weekend - almost 100 more then 2005.

Across Greater Manchester as a whole, crews of paramedics dealt with almost 9,000 incidents in just eight days.

Pat Graham, divisional nurse for medicine and emergency care, said: "We're delighted to say that 98 per cent of patients were seen within the four-hour target throughout the long weekend."

Christmas Eve saw 268 people arrive at Casualty - a drop of 11 patients on the same day in 2005.

On Christmas Day, 247 people were admitted - up from 205 the year before.

But on Boxing Day, the number of patients dropped to 284 from 299.

Patients were treated quickly because of the presence of GPs in Accident and Emergency to deal with non-emergencies.

The Bolton Community Unit, which is situated outside Casualty and treats less serious cases, was also open 24 hours a day on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Between December 18 and Christmas Eve, paramedics dealth with 6,820 emergency calls. These included 2,503 category A incidents, which are serious life-threatening illnesses or injuries, such as heart attacks or road accidents.

On Christmas Day, there were 407 category A incidents, and on Boxing Day there were 425.

Delwyn Wray, North-west ambulance service director for Greater Manchester, said: "Christmas is our busiest time of the year.

"We're encouraging people to think before calling 999 for serious or potentially life-threatening incidents and to consider alternatives, such as NHS Direct for non-life-threatening incidents."