NEW Year’s Eve was a hectic time for emergency services in Swindon who sought to make the celebrations as safe as possible for revellers.

As bars and clubs around the town were packed to ring in the arrival of 2014, police and ambulance services braced themselves to deal with an increase in calls.

Police had a busy night in Swindon, with 22 arrests made between 8pm and 8am as the New Year arrived. During that time there were 52 officers on duty.

Offences included violence against the person, drug offences, criminal damage, and anti-social behaviour.

Just after 1.30am, two crews from South Western Ambulance Service were dispatched to the Tap and Barrell pub on Manchester Road.

A 42-year-old male had sustained head and leg injuries, and was taken to Great Western Hospital for treatment.

Police also attended the scene, but the victim said his injuries were not caused as the result of an assault, so no further police action was necessary.

Across the region, South Western Ambulance Service took more than 2,000 calls between 6pm and 6am, which was a slight decrease from the same period last year in which 2,246 calls came in during 12 hours.

Neil Le Chevalier, deputy director of delivery at South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “Despite a very slight fall, it was a demanding night, with the greatest number of calls received between 2am and 3am.”

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service staged another strike during the final hours of 2012, but the industrial action passed without incident.

During the industrial action by members of the Fire Brigades’ Union between 6.30pm on New Year’s Eve and 12.30am on New Year’s Day, Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service attended three incidents.

There were two false alarms in Westbury and Bradford on Avon, and a co-responder call in Cricklade. All were attended by the local crews as normal.

Crews at ten of Wiltshire’s 24 fire stations were unavailable to respond to incidents during the strike, but the service had contingency plans in place to maintain cover across the county using on-call firefighters and alternative locations as appropriate.

As a result, there were nine appliances available in stations and a further six ready to respond on call.

As of 12.30am on New Year’s Day, all striking crews returned to duty.