The chief executive of the region’s ambulance service has thanked staff and volunteers for their hard work over a busy Easter.

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) received nearly 8,000 emergency calls to its control rooms over the long bank holiday weekend.

The busiest day for the trust was Saturday when it handled 2,100 calls, although this was less than the 3,000 it received on the same day last year.

EEAST had 1,957 calls on Good Friday and 1,780 on Easter Monday.

In total, the trust took 6,040 patients to hospital over the four days.

Robert Morton, EEAST chief executive, said: “My thanks to all of my colleagues and our volunteers for their continual hard work during another busy bank holiday weekend.

“We still continue to remind the public to consider alternate pathways such as 111, walk-in centres, GPs, and pharmacists if the call is not a genuine medical emergency.”